This year’s festival will be from Tuesday 24th—Thursday 26th February 2026, at Folkestone’s Burlington Hotel.
Our guest songwriting coaches are multi award winning musician Hannah White and Findlay Napier, assisted by Nina Clark Dunn and Pete Astor, who will be guiding you through group sessions learning new ways to develop your writing and compositions and help you get out of the same old groove you might have found yourself in.
We have a fringe masterclass for Early Birds where Josie Matcham will get your voice nicely warmed up in an extended Voice Confidence workshop’.
This is also open to the public but booking is essential and costs £20 for the 2.5-hour session.
The maximum number of students is capped at 15, ensuring a more intimate and personal experience with plenty of one-on-one time with tutors.
We have changed the format from 4 split groups to one group with the maximum number of students capped at fifteen. We feel this will ensure a more intimate and personal experience with plenty of one to one time with tutors to help with structure, composition, melody, harmony and instrumentation if needed.
There are numerous ways to enjoy this year’s festival, from full-residential options including bed and breakfast, to non-participant and single event passes. We’ve got an option for everyone!
The Full Three Day Festival Pass includes:
If you wish to stay on site at the Burlington Hotel get in touch and we can arrange that for you. There are other places to stay locally – see suggestions below. The Burlington Hotel is a short walk from train and bus stations.
At Folkestone Songwriting Festival, we pride ourselves on assembling the finest professionals, as reflected by our esteemed tutor alumni. To ensure our events are inclusive, we’ve implemented Clearpay, enabling attendees to stagger payments . We offer 2 or 3 day tickets, designed to provide best value for money.
The festival can only go ahead with Arts Council funding for which we are very grateful. Any grants received are used to enhance the festival without increasing costs for participants. We’ll keep you updated on any new tutors or program improvements.
At Folkestone Songwriting Festival, we pride ourselves on assembling the finest professionals, as reflected by our esteemed tutor alumni. To ensure our events are inclusive, we’ve implemented Clearpay, enabling attendees to stagger payments . We offer 2 or 3 day tickets, designed to provide best value for money.
The festival can only go ahead with Arts Council funding for which we are very grateful. Any grants received are used to enhance the festival without increasing costs for participants. We’ll keep you updated on any new tutors or program improvements.
This year’s core festival will be a optional residential experience at The Burlington Hotel, Folkestone.
Set in the tranquil surroundings of Folkestone’s West End, the Burlington Hotel is a charming Victorian building that overlooks the English channel and offers 4-star accommodation with all the mod cons expected from a contemporary hotel.
We have a range of available for this year’s festival – For more information, please visit our booking page.
Folkestone Songwriting Festival is a long-running, annual event taking place this year between Tuesday 24th and Thursday 26th February in Folkestone, Kent.
We invite songwriters, singers and musicians of all levels, genres and abilities to collaborate and celebrate the gift of music! Our programme includes a plethora of quality masterclasses and workshops, hosted by leading musical talent.
Supplementing the core masterclasses, the weekend also plays host to a variety of concerts and social events, all of which are optional – Your festival pass grants you full access… Feel free to attend or not attend as many as you like!
Folkestone is a coastal town with excellent transport links, and truly has something for everyone – Be it intimate and relaxing seaside cafes, or bustling pubs and music venues for a night on the town!
We hope to see you soon!
Tuesday
The festival pass full access to all of our masterclasses, workshops, gigs and networking events, and a buffet lunch on Wednesday and Thursday. An evening meal is included on the Tuesday evening, following our meet and greet. There are plenty of other residential and non-residential options available—see our Booking page for more details
The full festival pass for one person is £410. There are also options for participating couples, non-participating partners, or workshops & concerts only. Some of our workshops and concerts are also open to the general public and available as stand alone events – Please check programme page for further information.
Most importantly, yourself and your enthusiasm. If you play an instrument, you are welcome (and encouraged) to bring it – but this is not obligatory (for practical reasons, acoustic instruments are preferred. But if you do bring a keyboard or electric instruments please bring headphones for writing and practice and if at all possible enure your equipment has been recently PAT tested).
The Festival is about songwriting and sharing: no-one will force or expect you to perform!
You will likely find it useful to bring a notebook and pen to record your ideas.