Add to your event list
Sandy Denny Project yet again celebrate the music of Sandy Denny at her spiritual home, Byfield Village Hall.
This is a SEATED event and a BYOB (no bar, bring your own choice of beverage and snacks).
This will be the 7th Sandyfest, at Byfield Village Hall near Daventry in Northamptonshire, to commemorate 48 years since the passing of Sandy Denny, solo singer/songwriter, bon viveur and important member of the groundbreaking English folk rock bands Fotheringay and Fairport Convention.
Sandy lived in Byfield and the Village Hall is the venue that hosted her last public performance before her untimely death. The band for SandyFest is formed around the remnants of Fotheringay II, which, sadly could not continue touring after Jerry Donahue suffered a severe stroke.
The band, now called The Sandy Denny Project, features Sally Barker and PJ Wright (members of the last line-up of the reformed Fotheringay). along with Marion Fleetwood, Gemma Shirley, Mat Davies and Mark Stevens.
The Sandy Denny Project continues to recognize and celebrate the music of the late Sandy Denny, who is considered a founder of the British folk-rock movement, and perhaps its most important female singer. Sandy died in 1978 but her songs remain as fresh, poignant and as beautiful today as the time that they were penned. The repertoire at SandyFest will reflect the amazing legacy of work left behind by Sandy, through her work with the early incarnations of Fairport Convention, the sublime Fotheringay, and also her incredible repertoire of solo work.
The Sandy Denny Project
Six phenomenal musicians bringing the music of iconic singer-songwriter Sandy Denny, former lead singer of Fairport Convention, to audiences far and wide. BBC Radio Northampton, as part of National Music Day 2017, chose ex-Fotheringay MkII members Sally Barker (The Poozies, BBCTV's "The Voice") and guitarist PJ Wright (TradArrr, The Dylan Project) to celebrate the award of Sandy Denny's Blue Plaque at Byfield Village Hall, Northants - the scene of her last-ever concert in 1978. The following year Sally and PJ put together a "dream folk-rock lineup" to commemorate the passing of Byfield resident and Fairport Convention member Sandy, 40 years before, for a sell-out concert at the Village Hall - "Sandyfest" - an event repeated annually. With the line-up of Sally, PJ, multi-instrumentalists Anna Ryder & Marion Fleetwood, and the rhythm section of bassist Mat Davies and drummer Mark Stevens, from now-defunct folk-rock legends Little Johnny England, the material is not copied but approached as a tribute in its best sense - a fresh interpretation of Sandy's wonderful body of work. With every year Sandy's reputation grows in stature, both as a songwriter and an interpreter of traditional material, and the six musicians in the band who share an impressive folk-rock pedigree are each at the top of their game. In every sense a night to remember.
See The Sandy Denny Project tour dates
Byfield Village Hall
24 High Street
Byfield
NN11 3PP
See all events at Byfield Village Hall
Byfield Village Hall
24 High Street
Byfield
NN11 3PP
See all events at Byfield Village Hall
Find places to stay near Byfield Village Hall
on Sat 18 April 2026