"English Folk has never seen or heard anything like Bellowhead at full throttle...it's both rare & exhilarating to hear a band having so much fun." - Q

Bellowhead provide a peerless live experience. It is not for nothing that they've won an unparalleled 5 x BEST LIVE BAND BBC Folk Awards. From unearthly, exuberant vocals to the theatricality of their bar tunes and ballads, sea songs and shanties - by turns, gruesome and grotesque, this is a band that are also funny, subtle and always engaging.

Bellowhead are an 11 piece band that uniquely mix music from around the globe; from big band to soul, jazz-funk to classical strings with more than a dash of Music Hall and yet retain, at their core, an passion for English traditional music. Winners of the Best Live Band accolade at the BBC Radio Two Folk Awards an astonishing five times, Bellowhead appeal to a very broad demographic. They've played everywhere from Koko's to The Royal Albert Hall from The Big Chill to The Scala and regularly sell out 'themed' shows at London's Southbank Centre, where they are Arts in Residence. Summer 2011 has seen them dazzle their way around a staggering range of UK festivals, from Womad (where they received their Best Group award from Songlines Magazine), literary Port Elliot, gargantuan Glastonbury, rural Green Man, V Festivals and they made their barn-storming debut appearance at Latitude too.

2011 has seen Bellowhead make appearances on BBC TV's 'Later with Jools Holland' and Breakfast TV, as well as Sky TV and at the invitation of the producers, also recorded their own version of The Simpson's theme tune, as well as a brand new version of The Archer's legendary theme tune for Ambridge Extra.

Bellowhead's third studio album, 'Hedonism' was released to critical acclaim by Navigator Records in Oct 2010. Following on from their 'Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire' DVD in 2007, a brand new DVD, this time filmed at Bournemouth's 02 Academy, is due for release in the winter of 2011.

Bellowhead have also just been confirmed to appear at this year's BBC Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park on 11 September.

Following this tour de force Canterbury Festival is proud to bring the band with its firmly rising star to Canterbury on Sunday 12 February 2012 for one night only: Don't miss the self-confessed 'party band with serious intellectual pretensions', live at The Marlowe Theatre. Tickets: £22.50, book online or contact the Box Office on 01227 787787.