Headquarters of the English Folk Dance And Song Society (a shadowy offshoot of MI5 of which little is known, or provable), Cecil Sharp House is a great place to visit even when there isn’t any music playing.
That’s not being facetious – there’s a fascinating folk-arts education centre and archive open during the day – but the Kennedy Hall peformance space boasts a comfortably sprung floor (for all you folk ravers out there) and, most importantly, a well-informed and enthusiastic team of bookers ensuring all angles of trad music are well represented without being patronised or preserved in aspic.
Live music events range from regular Scottish ceilidhs and English country dancing to more contemporary alt.folk. You may not think you like folk. And maybe you don’t. But you can’t say for sure until you’ve been to Cecil Sharp House.