“An experience I shall never forget. I found your teaching and singing so uplifting and soulful. The facilities are superb as was Ros’ cooking! Everybody was so friendly and will remain pals for life”
Song, music, and dance residential in Edale, Derbyshire
Monday 24th – Friday 28st August 2026
Immerse yourself in a week of folk magic in the stunning Edale Valley. Experience the joy of folk song, music, and dance, guided by world-class professionals. Whether you’re just starting out on an instrument, developing your skills, or coming solely as a singer, this is a space to relax, connect, and be part of a vibrant community. Meet new people, share your passion, have your voice heard, and become part of something truly special.
Workshops & Activities
We are crafting a timetable of activities based on you! If you don’t play an instrument, you can come as a singer and focus on learning songs, harmonies, and vocal skills. If you play an instrument, there will be opportunities to do workshops focusing on that instrument, and to learn tunes in mixed instrument groups. We will try our best to cater separate workshops for different levels of ability, and seperate tune learning sessions and slower and faster paces. On the booking form, you’ll find tick-boxes to tell us what you’re interested in, but here’s a flavour of possibilities.
Song, Harmony, Exploring Traditional Ballads, Songwriting, Fiddle, Guitar, Melodeon, Whistle, Uilleann Pipes, English Tunes, Scottish Tunes, Swedish Tunes, Playing in a band, Arranging Music, Bal Folk Dance (European dances such as the Swedish polska and the French bourrée), Vocal Health, Stagecraft, Wellbeing for Musicians…
We’re also allowing plenty of time to relax and enjoy Edale, and will be providing the opportunity to do ‘take-a-break’ workshops each day, with arts, craft, walking, and pilates.
Evening activities will include a ceilidh, performances from the artists, opportunities for you to share to an audience if you so desire, nightly campfires, sing-arounds and sessions.
Complete this form to book your place: https://forms.gle/mjQ4HEokwyDGFm9b9
Meet the Leaders
Bella Hardy – Song, Harmony singing, Fiddle, Tunes, Songwriting, Stage-craft & Musical Wellbeing
Your host! Bella has been leading residential singing weekends in her home village of Edale since 2024.
Lover of folk songs and ballads, and a self-taught ‘fiddle singer’, Bella began performing at Cambridge and Sidmouth festivals from the age of 13. Her debut album Night Visiting (2007) established her reputation as a talented songwriter when her first original composition Three Black Feathers earned a BBC Folk Award nomination. She has sung unaccompanied ballads at a sold-out Royal Albert Hall, taken her band to the National Concert Hall of Budapest, and learnt the songs of Chinese farmers during her time as British Council Musician in Residence in Yunnan Province. She’s sat on the moors of her beloved Peak District with only her fiddle for company. She spent a year in Tennessee as a ranch hand, looking after horses, fiddle-singing in the diners, and immersing herself in the music culture of Nashville. She won Singer of the Year at the BBC Folk Awards 2014.
Lucy Huzzard – Melodeon, Dance, Tunes, Song, Songwriting
Lucy grew up steeped in the English folk music and dance scene, and learned to play for Cotswold morris as a teenager, which set her up for life with the grooves of English music.
She went on to study melodeon on the Folk Degree, and spent a year studying Swedish dance at the Eric Sahlström Institute in Sweden, where she fell in love with Swedish music. She is also an incredible singer and writer, and one-half of political folk duo Lucy & Hazel, using the melodeon as an accompaniment to her song writing.
Jenn Butterworth – Guitar, Song, Tunes, Arrangement
Jenn is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading exponents of traditional folk guitar. Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Jenn is a central figure in the thriving Scottish folk music scene.
She is a key member of the award-winning folk powerhouse Kinnaris Quintet and performs regularly in duos with Laura-Beth Salter and Will Pound. Her versatility has seen her contribute to an impressive array of projects, including performances with Fiddlers’ Bid, Treacherous Orchestra, Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton, Bella Hardy, Adam Sutherland, Sian, Malin Makes Music, Claire Hastings, and RURA’s Jack Smedley & David Foley. In 2019, Jenn was named Musician of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards and was a nominee for the same title at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Seb Stone – Song, Whistle, Uilleann Pipes
Seb is a traditional singer, whistle player and uilleann piper from the Peak District.
In 2022 he won both the Future of Folk and Shantyman of the Year Awards at Bromyard Folk Festival. Since then he has performed at a variety of folk festivals and is an active part of the sessions circuit in Sheffield, Manchester and his native Peaks.
DETAILS
Venue: The Peak Centre, Edale, Hope Valley
Time: from 4pm Monday 24th to 11am Friday 28th August 2026
Food: This event is fully and deliciously catered by Bella’s favourite cook Ros Nield, so you can focus purely on making music. We’ll be having continental breakfasts, light(ish) lunches, and big dinners, with refreshments available throughout the day. Ros is an expert at catering to all of our dietary needs.
PRICE (deposit of £200 when booking, full payment by April 30th 2026)
Standard Residential: per person in dorm of 3, £620 (all meals, single sex dorm of up to 3 people)
Two-Person Room Residential: Must be booked as a complete room, £1400 per room (£700 per person, all meals)
Non-Residential: £500 (includes lunch and dinner, does not include accommodation or breakfast)
EARLY BIRD RATES £50 off per person! Must be booked by 31st January 2026. Standard Residential becomes £570, Two-Person Room becomes £1300, Non-Residential becomes £450…
BOOKING
Complete this form to book your place: https://forms.gle/mjQ4HEokwyDGFm9b9
Email info@darkpeakarts.com with any questions, or to request further info.
EDALE
Edale is a seven-mile long valley in the Peak District National Park. It’s made up of mud, gritstone, mist, sheep, a mountain, some hills, jagged rocky outcrops, and place names like Mad Woman’s Stones and Mam Tor. The main village is famously the start (or end) of the Pennine Way, a 268 mile trail to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland.
We have a general store, two cafe, two pubs, and an information centre. Edale railway station connects us to Manchester to Sheffield with regular trains.
If you’d like to hear Bella chatting about Edale, why not listen to her episode of Folk on Foot!
DARK PEAK ARTS 