Headliner announced for annual music festival in Hatfield

Be More Kind singer Frank Turner will headline Hatfield music festival Folk by the Oak 2019 at Hatfield House. Picture: Alan Davies. (Image: Alan Davies)

Folk-punk troubadour Frank Turner will headline Folk by the Oak at Hatfield House this summer.

FBTO 2019 will take place in the grounds of the Hertfordshire stately home on Sunday, July 14.

Festival promoters confirmed the appearance of the Be More Kind singer-songwriter today (Sunday) ahead of Frank Turner’s massive headline show at Alexandra Palace.

Tonight’s gig at the famous north London venue will bring to a triumphant close Frank’s current Be More Kind UK arena tour.

In July he will play the closing set at FBTO in the Queen Elizabeth Oak Field at Hatfield Park with his band, The Sleeping Souls, accompanied by the festival’s trademark fireworks finale.

The Hatfield festival posted on social media: “Our 2019 headliner is announced!

“One of the UK’s most successful solo artists of the past decade, who has earned a die-hard international fan base with his incredible, highly charged live shows, we are over the moon to welcome the awesome troubadour Frank Turner and his partners in crime, The Sleeping Souls, for the first time to our Main Stage.”

Frank Turner also tweeted: “Excited to confirm that I’ll be headlining @FolkByTheOak festival in Hatfield in July!”

Singer-songwriter Grace Petrie, who has been supporting Frank Turner on his latest jaunt around the country, has already been confirmed for FBTO’s smaller Acorn Stage.

Don’t Worry if you’ve not got Folk by the Oak 2019 tickets at a discounted price yet.

Organisers have also extended their early bird ticket offer for the Hatfield festival in light of the folk and acoustic showcase’s main stage headliner announcement.

You can still get adult tickets for the family-friendly festival for £34.50 until Sunday, February 10.

A festival spokesperson said: “You’ll be pleased to hear we’ve extended our early booking offer.

“You now have until midnight Sunday, February 10 to get your tickets for just £34.50 per adult, or £97 for a family ticket.”

Frank Turner last played Hatfield in 2013 when he visited the University of Hertfordshire’s Forum Hertfordshire venue as a warm-up gig for his appearances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals that summer.

He also headlined Hertfordshire boutique event Standon Calling on the Friday night in 2014 having also played Knebworth rock and metal festival Sonisphere that same year.

Fans can expect a rousing finale to Folk by the Oak 2019 if Frank’s current tour is anything to go by.

The festival’s website states: “With the Folk by the Oak team joining his fan base in regular calls to see Frank on our Main Stage, it’s safe to say we’ve had a close eye on him for some time!

“The release of his latest album, Be More Kind, sees Turner begin a new chapter in his musical career, an ambitious leap forward that we felt signified the time was right for a headline set at Folk by the Oak.

“With his band The Sleeping Souls we are guaranteed a performance that is both intimate and poetic, yet as rousing as any good folk-punk performance should be.”

Frank Turner being interviewed backstage at Knebworth music festival Sonisphere in 2014. Picture: Alan Davies. (Image: Alan Davies)

Organisers say Frank’s latest work “bridges the personal and the political, the intimate and the universal”.

FBTO’s website continues: “This set promises to be Turner at his best, incorporating some of his most notable tracks with material from his latest album Be More Kind.”

The FBTO 2019 main stage line-up for July also includes singer-songwriter Seth Lakeman, and The Lost Word – Spell Songs featuring the combined talents of Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Seckou Keita, Kris Dreaver, Kerry Andrew, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter and Jim Molyneux.

This year’s Acorn headliners are multi-award winning and boundary pushing indie-folk sensation Elephant Sessions.

• To buy tickets, visit www.folkbytheoak.com

Frank Turner on stage at The Forum Hertfordshire in Hatfield. [Picture: Alan Davies] (Image: Alan Davies)

Frank Turner on stage at The Forum Hertfordshire in Hatfield. [Picture: Alan Davies] (Image: Alan Davies)