Two of the UK’s hottest rising acts are to make their way to the Isle of Man to appear at one of the fast-growing music festivals.

Devon-based alt-folk trio Wildwood Kin and hotly-tipped UK blues and roots star Jake Isaac will headline the Isle of Man Cyclefest, a two day festival of music, entertainment and cycling, which will once again be based at the Milntown Estate, Ramsey, and take place on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 April, 2018.

The folk and roots element to the festival was highlighted last year with a mixture if blues and folk artists, and it is a pattern the organisers are looking to repeat this year.

Wildwood Kin are a trio of singers, who released their debut album, ’Turning Tides’ last year.

They have been championed by many leading industry figures, including Bob Harris and Jo Whiley, and have been supported by fellow Devonian Seth Lakeman, who has appeared with them many times on stage.

Jake Isaac has won a legion of new fans since the release of his debut album ’Our Lives’ this year, winning praise from none other than Elton John along the way.

Mixing acoustic sounds with elements of rock, funk, soul and more, festival-goers can expect big songs and big riffs.

The main stage will again be sponsored by Pokerstars, and there will also be two new stages, featuring a variety of groups and performers.

BBC2 Folk Award winners Ross and Ali will play their own brand of foot-stomping, kilt-twirling trad music, and the Cornish-based singer songwriter Sam Kelly, also a Folk award winner in his own right, will appear on the new Festival Club stage.

Also, Cyclefest is introducing the Little Lights stage set, featuring award-winning music with some the UK’s most talented young singer songwriters.

In addition to the music, there will more of a focus on family entertainment during next year’s festival.

Children of all ages can have a go with the Bright Bricks LEGO builders. They will transport 65,000 LEGO blocks to the site, letting people join in with a special Cyclefest-themed build, and there will also be story telling from children’s author Rosie Hudson, who will be entertaining and inspiring the crowd in the Sure-sponsored Ti-Pi with interactive stories, games and activities.

The popular Cyclefest beach will return, and also making a return journey to the island will be the UK’s premier mountain bike trials athlete, Andrei Burton, who, along with Parkour specialist Pip Andersen, will be performing spectacular tricks throughout the weekend. Both athletes are being sponsored by the Steam Packet for the weekend appearance.

Another new feature this year will be the chance to explore the ghostly interior of Milntown House with a series of free ghost walks, held by Alan Shaw from the Isle of Man Ghost Tours group.

Finally, there is to be an open air ’Cyclefest Sundown’ cinema, also in the Milton grounds, which will show a series of family films from tea time to sunset in a child-safe and secure setting.

There will also be a huge selection of food from some of the island’s top food outlets.

The Isle of Man Cyclefest is again sponsored by the Isle of Man Bank, and the growth of the family festival has been welcomed by the bank’s island director Paul Smith.

’We are proud to continue our support of Isle of Man Cyclefest,’ he said.

’The festival schedule continues to evolve in terms of size and quality and is already one of the highlights of the year on the island boasting a unique family atmosphere. ’It’s a fabulous community event offering excellent entertainment for people of all ages.’

There are ’early bird’ wristbands and tickets available to buy from the iomcyclefest.com website today (Thursday), priced from £7.50 for adults and £3.75 for under 16s for a day ticket and £12 for a weekend ticket, with £6 for under 16s.

by Mike Wade

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