FOLK legend Seth Lakeman will be the headline act at a new festival set up by a couple from Ashburton, which will take place later this spring.

Sophie Pierce, a writer and former BBC journalist, and artist Alex Murdin, hope the Dartmoor Tors Festival, on the late May bank holiday weekend, will become a regular fixture in future years.

The aim is to celebrate Dartmoor and what makes it special.

The festival will take place in Ashburton and at locations around Dartmoor.

Others appearing are the international artist Garry Fabian Miller, writer Guy Shrubsole, storytellers Sara Hurley and Lisa Schneidau, archaeologists Lee Bray and Andy Crabb from Dartmoor National Park, access campaigner Kate Ashbrook, and Beltane Border Morris side.

Sophie and Alex are working with Ashburton Arts Centre and the Field System gallery, both in Ashburton’s West End, on a host of events between May 23 and 25.

On Saturday May 24 there will be talks and conversations at the Arts Centre, taking in everything from a debate about the right to roam on Dartmoor, a conversation between artists sharing their different perspectives on the moor, and a talk by archaeologists from Dartmoor National Park about the latest prehistoric discoveries.

Artists exhibiting at Field System will be offering creative workshops inspired by land, art and nature. On the Saturday evening, Seth Lakeman will be performing in a trio with Alex Hart and Benji Kirkpatrick, and on the Sunday there will be various walks to choose from, including an expedition to one of Dartmoor’s most enigmatic stone rows with archaeo-astronomer Carolyn Kennett and Dartmoor guide Paul Rendell.

The idea for the festival arose as a result of the work married couple Sophie and Alex have been doing for the last decade or so.

Alex has been drawing the tors and also has an ongoing project, called A Thousand Stones, to depict Dartmoor’s longest stone row.

Sophie is author of five books including Wild Swimming Walks Dartmoor and South Devon, and a memoir, The Green Hill: Letters to a Son, which is a meditation on love and loss and is very much set on Dartmoor and the surrounding landscape.

Says Sophie: ‘We feel a powerful connection to Dartmoor in both our emotional lives and our creative work, and suddenly wondered why there was no annual gathering to celebrate Dartmoor and share ideas about our responses to this extraordinary place. So we thought, let’s start one.’

It’s hoped the festival will benefit Ashburton, bringing in trade for businesses, and also providing entertainment and fun for local people.

Andy Williamson, Arts Director at Ashburton Arts Centre, says it should be a positive boost for the town. ‘This festival celebrates the fabulous landscape and rich heritage of this unique part of England.

‘It also shows that fantastic arts and culture of all kinds are alive and well here today, with Dartmoor’s ancient granite producing world-class music and art for the 21st century.'

You can find out more and book tickets at dartmoortorsfestival.co.uk