FOLK giants Show of Hands, Feast of Fiddles and Fotheringay are to appear at the fifth annual New Forest Folk Festival this summer.

They will be joined on stage by contemporary folk band Ranagri and Is This The Way to Amarillo chart-topper Tony Christie, who will be showcasing tracks from their new joint album, The Great Irish Songbook.

Organisers also welcome back Chris Leslie of Fairport Convention fame, popular duo Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman and celebrated storyteller Reg Meuross.

New to the festival are 21st century folk rockers TRADarrr, the very lively Mad Dog Mcrea, ones to watch Roving Crows, Steve Daggett (Lindisfarne) plus the contemporary Urban Folk Quartet.

Steve Knightley and Phil Beer of Show of Hands are widely acknowledged as the finest acoustic roots duos in England. Knightley, who was born in Southampton, writes most of their inspired material and Beer, a dazzling multi instrumentalist, have built up a huge following, which has seen them sell out the Royal Albert Hall three times, headline major festivals from Glastonbury to WOMAD and playing all over the world, from Europe to America, Australia and India. They are joined by Miranda Sykes with her powerful double bass and rich harmonies.

Feast of Fiddles promise a musical extravaganza covering almost every genre and involving quite a few fiddles! They're 21 years and still going strong.

Fotheringay was a short-lived 70s British folk rock group. The three surviving members - Jerry Donahue, Gerry Conway and Pat Donaldson - have reunited with a new exciting line up Kathryn Roberts (Equation, KR & Sean Lakeman), Sally Barker (The Poozies, ‘The Voice’) and PJ Wright (The Dylan Project and Little Johnny England).

Tony Christie and Ranagri's joint new album celebrates traditional songs from a shared Irish heritage.

Singer songwriter Christie told Your Entertainment: “I have always liked the traditional Irish songs and the opportunity for me to perform with Ranagri at the New Forest Festival this year is great. We are playing just before Feast of Fiddles in the line-up and I personally can’t wait to see them in full swing.”

The family-run New Forest Folk Festival 2016 runs from July 6 to 10 in Plaitford.

The idyllic location of Powells Farm has been home to the Curtis family for six generations. The unique stage, an open fronted rustic barn, was lovingly built and extended to accommodate larger outfits of musicians, after the first successful festival, in 2012.

For tickets, and more details, visit newforestfolkfestival.co.uk