Two bona-fide legends of the UK folk scene headline our ever-popular Christmas concert, which will also be streamed online in partnership with LIVE TO YOUR LIVING ROOM.

Multi award-winning contemporary folk artists JACKIE OATES & JOHN SPIERS meld together their shared love of English traditional folk tunes and songs with their fine voices and expertly played acoustic instruments.

The gathered music-lovers can look forward to a fresh, uplifting and poignant evening. The concert will include music from the duo’s first album Needle Pin, Needle Pin, released in early 2020 as well as a selection of Christmas songs, with the duo visiting old and new carols from the folk tradition.

Although followers of British folk music will be familiar with Jackie and John from their other high calibre bands, this collaboration began quite innocently and spontaneously when the pair first started playing together for fun during guest spots at Nettlebed Folk Club in Henley-on-Thames. Recognising the potential, they began working together on material from their native county of Oxfordshire. 

Joining Jackie & John on the bill will be locally-based traditional folk duo COOPER &TOLLER, who will get the music underway with a 25-minute set at 7.45pm.

Vicky Cooper & Richard Toller sing solo and in harmony, sometimes unaccompanied and sometimes accompanied on a range of instruments including fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo. With a repertoire ranging from murder ballads to bawdy drinking songs, their material may be hundreds of years old but their approach is energetic, sophisticated and timeless.

Tickets for the event, which takes place at CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND on Friday 16 December 2022, are available HERE and from MELANIE'S KITCHEN in Downend (cash only). They are priced at £14 each in advance or £16 on the door. Doors open at 7.30pm and the music starts around 7.45pm. Tickets for the online stream are available HERE, with a range of prices available. All tickets for the original Christmas concert, which was due to be headlined by Belshazzar’s Feast before the untimely death of Paul Sartin, remain valid for the concert.

In the venue, there will be a bar, stocking cider, soft drinks, wine, hot drinks and locally-brewed real ale from locally-based HOP UNION BREWERY. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own glass/mug/tankard, as well as reusable bottles for water, as part of the drive to be more environmentally aware. There is a 50p discount for those that do. There will also be sweet treats available at the bar courtesy of the Radstock-based GREAT CAKE COMPANY, as well as a prize draw, which helps to fund the support artists for each concert. Refreshments for the online version are down to you!

For further information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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