On the first day of Tønder Festival, Wednesday 27 August 2025, a very special event will take place at 5:45 pm in Tent 1.
A semicircle of five musicians from five different countries will take turns to sing their songs and tell their stories, each in their own language.
Tønder Festival's audiences know the concept: the Women’s Circle and Gentlemen’s Circle, both of which are also on the programme this year. This new addition is a songwriters' circle focusing on songs written and sung in minority languages.
One of Greenland's most prized musicians, Rasmus Lyberth, sings in Greenlandic. Ainsley Hamill from Scotland sings in Gaelic. Lleuwen Steffan from Wales sings in Welsh. Nolwenn Korbell from France, who also sings in Lleuwen Steffan's band, sings in her native Breton. And Danish Rikke Thomsen sings in South Jutish.
“Tønder Festival has always had an eye to other cultures. This seems natural to us given that all the music we present is folk music, and music descended from folk music, from all over the world,” says Tønder Festival's artistic director, Maria Theessink, and continues:
“Music is, after all, the universal language that connects us humans across all borders, including linguistic divisions. So it follows that we should create a space where listeners can experience that universal communality in a distilled form.”
The special songwriters’ circle is partly financed by Denmark's Ministry of Culture, to support an "office for minority music."
"The aim is to gather, a couple of times a year, musicians from minorities and border regions in Europe. And of course Tønder Festival's audiences should have the opportunity to hear this exciting music at this year's festival," says Tønder Festival Foundation board member Poul-Henrik Jensen.
Tønder Festival 2025 – so far:
Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group (USA), Take Me To The River (USA), Joe Henry (USA), Sons Of The East (AUS), Natalie McMaster & Donnell Leahy (CAN), Elephant Sessions (SCO), Oysterband (ENG), Rikke Thomsen (DK), John Smith (UK), Jeffrey Foucault, USA), Tina Dickow og Helgi Jonsson (DK, IS), Melissa Carper (USA), Fantastic Negrito (USA), Adeem The Artist (USA), The Lonesome Ace Stringband (CAN), The Langan Band (SCO), Quote the Raven (CAN), Michael Falch & Zonen (DK), Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys (CAN), Flook (IRL, ENG, UK), The Hello Darlins (CAN), Trousdale (USA), Allan Olsen & Norlan (DK), Kellie Loder (CAN), Matt Andersen (CAN), Stundom (DK), The Complete Recordings of Hezekiah Procter (CAN), Talisk (SCO), Nanna Carling Swingband (SE), Hans Theessink Band (NL, ZW, A), Avi Kaplan (USA), S.G. Goodman (USA), Elias Rønnenfelt (DK), Evan Honer (USA), Mànran (SCO), Kellermensch (DK), Dervish (IRL), ULD (NO), Crowe Boys (USA), Väsen & Hawktail (USA, SE), Charles Wesley Godwin (USA), Northern Assembly (DK, FO, UK), Lleuwen Steffan (WAL), Nolwenn Korbell (BZH), Ainsley Hamill (SCO), Rasmus Lyberth (GL/DK).
Tønder Festival 27. 28. 29. 30. august 2025
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Starting in 2025, Tønder Festival will no longer produce a printed program. This decision is based on feedback from our audience and our desire to allocate the festival’s resources where they create the most value for our guests.
The official Tønder Festival t-shirt is once again designed in close collaboration with Højer Design Efterskole.
On the first day of Tønder Festival, Wednesday 27 August 2025, a very special event will take place at 5:45 pm in Tent 1.
Tønder Festival is proud to present the unassuming songwright and inspired storyteller, Charles Wesley Godwin, who is giving his only 2025 concerts on Danish soil at this year's festival.
