A vital & exciting part of the Festival programme, Shooting Roots bring us a brilliant week of craft, dance, theatre, band & storytelling workshops for 12-17 year olds, leading up to some special performance opportunities at the Manor Theatre and around the town, as well as the collaboration with the superb Stream Of Sound choir and some great events at Betsy’s. They are joined again by some of Scotland’s finest young musicians from Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail for what will be some unforgettable sessions.

Shooting Roots is an organisation run by and for young people, offering creative and participatory folk workshops at festivals and other events. In a nutshell it’s all about generating opportunities for young people to perform, develop friendships and access the folk arts.

Shooting Roots organise the New Callers Showcase on Tue 8 August .Apply here 

An opportunity for ceilidh callers never previously booked at Sidmouth to showcase their talents, and call with a top band. This year Shooting Roots will be MCing the event, building on the wonderful work of Michael Catovsky in previous years. We’re really excited to bring a varied and refreshing evening of dancing to the calls of some new faces, as well as offering an fantastic opportunity for up-and-coming callers to get experience at a major UK folk festival.

Apply here.

If you’re new to Shooting Roots and not quite sure what this all involves, come and join us for our taster session on Saturday 5th August to get a flavour for the rest of the week, and then newbies and old hands alike can get stuck in on the Sunday with our Craft Day, learning exciting traditional craft skills and making something to take home.
During the rest of the week, there are regular workshops for 12-17 year olds in Dance, Band, Theatre and Storytelling. And for some spectacular singing, our friends over at Stream of Sound have got you covered with their fabulous daily workshops. These will lead up to performances in the youth showcase, a dance out and a storyround!