Roary Skaista is a local singer-songwriter, whose pure singing voice and intricate picking patterns on the guitar give an authentic folk sound to their songs. Whilst their music may sound traditional, however, their lyrics are up-to-date, witty and poignant, challenging audiences on current issues such as mental health, LGBT+ rights, gender equality and the environment. Roary's latest single on the dangers of salmon farming saw them into the finals of the EuroFishion Song Contest, an international competition as part of World Fish Migration Day 2020.
For all the Facebook Stage performances you will need to open the Folk Weekend Oxford Facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/folkweekendoxford) The performances will 'go live' on there. They will all be available after the event as well in the videos section. All these performances are free, but do add to the performers' and/or FWO's tip box (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/folkweekendoxford)
Jackie is a singer and fiddle player hailing from Staffordshire and now living in Oxford. Her unique treatment of English ballads and songs, and pure, haunting singing style has attracted increasing attention. Since appearing as a finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2003, she has performed extensively at festivals and folk clubs across the country, in a solo capacity and with a number of bands. Her second album 'The Violet Hour' was one of the Top 10 on the Mojo folk album of the year chart in 2008, followed by 'Hyperboreans' reaching number five in the chart the following year. Also in 2009 Jackie won two BBC Folk Awards - The Horizon Award for best new comer, and the Best Traditional Track Award. She is currently singing with her own band, and touring as a member of The Imagined Village alongside Eliza Carthy. When not busy with all this Jackie dances with 
John Spiers, known better in folk circles as Squeezy, has made a name for himself as one of the leading squeezebox players of his generation. Well known for his long-standing duo partnership with Jon Boden in the formidable Spiers & Boden as well as his contribution to the massively popular Bellowhead, John has also played with Eliza Carthy’s Ratcatchers and a number of local folk-dance bands.
In normal times we are always delighted to welcome Morris dancers to Folk Weekend, who perform in the streets and at fantastic locations across the City centre including the Botanic Gardens and the Ashmolean Museum. Things are a litte different at the moment, but Morris will return. For more information, go to our