Thursday 28 May was the first day of the 2026 Appledore Music Festival. With buskers at the Seagate, dogleg at Coffee Cabin, Rich Malfait’s session at the Champ, plus a huge opening night gig at St Mary’s Hall, it promised to be a roaring start.
And it was. The weather was set fair, providing some relief from the recent heatwave. The buskers did their thing, dogleg were amazing and Rich’s session was well attended by some great musicians.
The St MAry’s gig was incredible. First off was Natalie Withey, followed by Lara Conly. Next up were Amanita Grove then the Ruffé-Marsh Experience, with Lara reappearing on backing vocals as they sang some great covers. Finally came Mark Welbourn and friends killing it witha real festival vibe.
Here’s the Ruffé-Marsh Experience doing their stuff.
