Media Centre

Welcome to the Swaledale Festival Media Page. Please find here copies of our press releases and photos of this year’s artists for use in the media. If you wish to speak with our marketing team, please contact the Festival office at: enquiries@swalefest.org or telephone 01748 880018.

Download images for press and publicity here 

Festival information

  • The Swaledale Festival has a history of over 40 years bringing music and other arts to Swaledale, Wensleydale and Arkengarthdale.
  • Approximately 50% of Festival audiences come to the area on holiday from all over the UK and other parts of the world, in many cases especially for the Festival.
  • The Swaledale Festival also has a highly regarded programme of education and community events. In 2014 it was awarded the Prime Minister’s ‘Big Society Award' for its work with local schools on a music and art project over the autumn/winter of 2013-14

Special Commissions

  • 30 November 2022
Special Commissions

At Swaledale Festival we regularly commission music and art from leading creators as well as lesser known ones.

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Dr. Duncan Bythell

  • 21 November 2022
Dr. Duncan Bythell

The Festival is sad to learn of the death of Dr. Duncan Bythell, a long-term resident of Swaledale and a fine musician.

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From Cowshed to Cathedral: Swaledale Festival 2022

  • 15 June 2022
From Cowshed to Cathedral: Swaledale Festival 2022

Over 6,200 tickets were sold for 50 music, arts and walking events across 18 venues, from Handel’s Messiah filling the heights of Ripon Cathedral, to brass, strings, woodwind, piano, percussion and vocals resounding in the chapels and churches of the Dales, to a folk fest in a cowshed.

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Two weeks, three dales, eighteen venues, fifty events

  • 17 May 2022
Two weeks, three dales, eighteen venues, fifty events

Swaledale Festival kicks off this month, with fifty events rippling across the Dales from 28 May to 11 June to mark the Festival’s special 50th anniversary. 

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50 events mark 50th anniversary

  • 7 April 2022
50 events mark 50th anniversary

This year’s Swaledale Festival features 50 music, arts and walking events in celebration of its 50th anniversary. With seven weeks to go until the fields dance with buttercups and the merriment begins, you may be wondering where to start, so here are some gems that are sure to entertain and inspire.



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