Morris dancing and folk music, barbecued food and chilled drinks – the first Rickmansworth Folk Festival looks set to be a day of traditional English family entertainment.

Organised by Rickmansworth Town Team and Phoenix Morris and sponsored by Three Rivers District Council, the festival is a free event, open to all, that will be taking place across the town. There will be morris dancing and folk music between 11am and 4pm, at Basing Square, The Feathers pub, St Mary’s Church, The White Bear pub and Batchworth Lock.

The festivities continue into the evening with a charity concert at St Mary’s Church starring Chorleywood-based singer songwriter Julie Felix.

Julie arrived in England in 1964 from California after hitching through Europe with a duffel bag and a guitar and became the first solo folk artist to be signed to a major British record company, Decca.

She was very successful in the 1960s and early 1970s and continues to produce albums today on her own label.

  • Rickmansworth Folk Festival is at various venues in Rickmansworth on Saturday, July 19 from 11am to 10pm. Details: rickmansworthtown.co.uk