Bal Folk music and dance resources

If you know what you want to find, simply jump to the section of most interest to you.

Live Streams — Music Streams — Dances — Dance leaders and Instructors — Dance Instructions — Festivals — Sheet Music (a.k.a. "Partitions") — Bands and Musicians — Dance Videos — Amusements

If Bal Folk is completely new to you, you could sample the Live Streams to get an idea about the music, or listen to a randomly-selected audio stream from the Bal Libre site. You could watch the theatrical trailer for a movie filmed at Gennetines, or check out the "Gennetines 2023 Ambiance" video to see samples of many different sessions that year. The organizers of BalFolk.NL have assembed a "Wat is balfolk?" video that tries to answer the question it poses (in Dutch and English).

Let me know if I have significant oversights or omissions! (Yes, I really would do to provide more descriptions of the various videos.)

The folks at Bal DC have some background information on Bal Folk. You can also check The Bal DC facebook page for information on Bal Folk events that come to their attention.
They recommend a page by French Dance Leeds (in west Yorkshire, England) with some background information.
WikiPedia has an entry on Bal Folk, but seems to define the term as a noun, pertaining to an event, like a dance, rather than an adjective, describing a type of event.

Live Streams

Various bands, recording studios, and publishers organized streaming sessions during the pandemic lockdown. Here are a few of the ones I found.

Airboxes — via Trad Records (100 minutes) (accordion duo, Belgium)
Naragonia (Netherlands) — bagpipe/accordion duo or quartet adding violin and guitar: Three streams:
90 minutes, via Frisse Folk

90 minutes, via Trad Records

two hours, via their official channel
Trio Dhoore, via Frisse Folk (70 minutes), with one couple dancing and including some variations.
Fibonanschi Swiss solo accordioniste, (nearly 3 hours, starts 13 minutes in)
Wim te Groen, Belgian pianist (25 minutes)
Floating Sofa Quartet, Denmark: accordion, bagpipe/flute, fiddle, bass (1 hour)
Snaarmaarwaar (2 hours, 45 minutes)
The Chai Connection, via Trad Records (90 minutes)
Broes, via Frisse Folk (1 hour)
Sonadeg Ampouailh e Gouel etrekeltiek an Oriant 2019, via France 3 and the Festival Interceltique de Lorient (50 minutes)
Combined playlist: I threw all of the above into a single playlist. It runs over sixteen hours.

Some of the people and organizations behind those streams...

The Festival Interceltique: A huge pan-Celtic festival in the Breton town of Lorient, France. (Link leads to more information above.)
Frisse Folk: "The specialty and main activity of Frisse Folk is teaching dance classes and workshops..." in Belgium. They have their own YouTube Channel.
Studio La Claranbox (South-central France): An effort of musician Aurelien Claranbaux. The studio has its own YouTube channel and Facebook page and he has his own web site
Trad Records (Belgium): "A young record label that specializes in folk and roots music" connected to Studio Trad.

Music Streams

BalLibre.org: This web site makes available music released under the "Creative Commons" license, free for use with attribution, without a need to pay for CDs. Some bands seem to "release" their back catalog here. It’s mostly set up to generate playlists for streaming. Some of the tracks on that site are great, but frankly, I find others completely unlistenable. (I’m not sure what the point of some tracks is supposed to be, but a harsh, grating, 45-minute long nearly melody-free techno/"house" bourrée just doesn’t have much appeal to me.)
You can select types of dances for a playlist, or just to listed to one form. Cercle Circassien and Chapelloise are always square tunes and I suspect the Jigs and Reels are too. the 2- and 3-time bourrées ought to be square (in 2/8 and 3/8 time, as I understand it). In addition to waltzes in 3/4 time, Mazurkas are also (usually) 3/4. France also has waltzes in 5/4, 8/4, and 11/4 (ValseA5Temps, ValseA8Temps, ValseA11Temps).
I can’t say that I’ve developed favorites of the bands, but perhaps you could check out SousLePont or AuGreDeVents. The listing for "InternationalFolkDancing" seems to be a collection of old 78-rpm recordings, digitized, but not cleaned up.
Hurdy Gurdy Weekly Playlists: Over thirty curated playlists, with hundreds of videos, organized by the people at Hurdy-Gurdy Weekly (blog). You might also want to visit the Hurdy-Gurdy Weekly FaceBook group.

Regular dances and dance directories

BalFolk.org: An event finder hosted in England by a dance enthusiast. You can filter by country, for dance styles, and for single-day or multi-day events.
Breton dance finder: A Breton magazine maintains a website to find local Fest Noz dances (mostly in Brittany, no surprise).
Agenda Trad: The Agenda Trad link above goes to their calendar for French Breton events. Note that it probably mostly covers music events, and that it may allow searching for events in other areas.
Frisse Folk organize regular dances in Belgium.: The Frisse Folk YouTube channel has a number of videos, including dance demonstrations and live streams.
French Dance Leeds (west Yorkshire, England): Host regular dance events and also provide some background informaiton on Bal Folk.
Eloise & Co. host a monthly Bal Folk dance in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Bal Folk Toronto (Ontario, Canada): Weekly mini-bal each Monday and occasional special events.
The John C. Campbell Folk School (Brasstown, North Carolina): Host occasional events with local French musician Geraud Barralon.

Dance Leaders and Instructors

Leslie Barr (Washington, DC area) — Leslie can give a clear presentation of the history of the modern Bal Folk movement.

Lynn Baumeister (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) — Lynn attends Gennetines regularly.

Annie Fain (Brasstown, North Carolina)

Kerry Fletcher (England) "Kerry offers workshops, classes and private lessons in a range of dance styles, including regular classes in Kent and Hertfordshire"

Susan Kevra (Nashville, Tennessee) — Contra and English dance caller and choreographer, musician, and Bal Folk dance instructor, Susan "has worked tirelessly over the years to bring this kind of music and dance to the States." Works with Rachel Bell running a French Music track at Ashokan Northern Week (July 14-20, 2024, Olivebridge, New York)

Adrienne Simpson in Ukiah, California leads traditional French, Breton, and Galician dances at Lark Camp in California.

Lisa Tamres (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) — Lisa attends Gennetines almost every year.

Mary Wesley (New England) Contra caller and Bal Folk instructor

Dance Instructions

AccroFolk.net: A site that has a schedule of "Bal Folk" events and also descriptions of the dances.
Adrienne's Quick and Dirty Breton Dance Notes: Prepared for Lark Camp by Adrienne Simpson.
Demo videos: A YouTube channel with lots of videos.
Folka Dance Vendee: A site that seems to specialize in dances from Brittany and Poitou, but with dances from other regions as well. I have not spent much time with it, so do not know if it is useful.
Mine de Rien: A band in the north of France, provides some dance descriptions each accompanied by a video.

Festivals and events

The list below is mostly in usual calendar order, not by size, importance, or anything else.
You can find a long list of other festivals maintained by the folks at Bal En Soir. They organize dance events at Versailles!
You can also check the Bal Folk listings at FolkDance.Page. Their list includes regular dances as well as festivals.
You also can find announcements in the Balfolk Festivals in Europe Facebook group.

Dansstage (2025: 14-February 16): "A workshop-focussed Bal Folk weekend." € 250 suggested price, with some discounts and partial event tickets available. Open dance Saturday evening for €20-30.
Gennetines, Le Printemps des Gauthiers (2025: April 18-21, Central France): Limited to 119 attendees! Contact by phone if you have not attended the spring event before!
They have posted a preliminary program showing the workshops and participatory dances on two dance floors. You can find a sampler video on YouTube that gives a feeling of the workshops, dance sessions, spaces, and music.
Balaviris, (2024: May 31-June 2, ~40 km east of Lomoges, France): Eight bands, three playing for each evening dance (Friday & Saturday), with workshops Saturday morning and afternoon.
€15 for Friday or Saturday, €28 for the whole weekend.
Muehlenhof Mattstedt Folk Weekend (2025: June 18-22, Near-ish Leipzig, Germany): (Description based on 2024 event. Registration for 2025 opens 1 Feb.) Workshops by day, and three bands each playing a two-hour set each evening. €215 for adults for the full event (Wed-Sun), with lower prices for partial attendance, younger dancers, or folk folks who can help set up and/or run the event. Meals available at extra cost, with a request to reseve in advance.
For 2024, the bands are Bargainatt, Airboxes, Aurélién Claranbaux, Novar, Geronimo, Loogaroo, Guus Herremans, Rémi Geffroy, and Les Bottines Artistiques!
Festival Numinosum (2025: 19-22 June, Warsaw, Poland): Single-day registration from €24, full event pass €93.
Herräng (2025: 5 July - 1 August, Herräng, Sweden): A huge SWING dance event that takes over a tiny town in Sweden for FIVE WEEKS
Grand Bal Trad (2025: July 7-12, NW Italy): Modeled on Le Grand Bal, a Bal Folk dance event, about 45 minutes NE of Turin, Italy. Advance registration for the full five days runs €180, or €230 upon arrival. Three two-hour workshop periods daily, dancing until dawn to live music on 4 big separate dance floors.
Le Son Continu (2025: July 11-14, 10 km outside Moulins, France): Shortly before Gennetines, and about 75 miles west. It started out as the Festival St. Chartier, as a hurdy-gurdy luthier’s gathering. When I went to St. Chartier in 2001, the dancing was limited, with only one dance floor. The event was really much more about big concerts and the vendor booths. These days, and with the new name, the event is bigger. The website provides the following information: Every day has a a couple of big evening concerts, followed by two scheduled dances starting at midnight! A luthier's fair runs from 10-7 daily, as do booths for different organizations and associations. The schedule shows a couple of dance workshops each day.
You can buy meals prepared by volunteers or from restauranteurs, craft beers, local wines, juices, and other beverages. The event has its own YouTube channel with videos from festivals starting in 2014 and running to the most recent. There you can find an "ambiance" video from the 2024 festival that may give you an idea what you might expect. Another 2024 video shows a single Cercle Circassien from a drone flying over the main dance floor.
Le Son Continu is also on Facebook.
Gennetines, a.k.a. Le Grand Bal de l'Europe (2025: July 25 - Aug 8, Central France): Possibly the oldest Bal Folk event, though not the biggest, takes place on the grounds of a family farm 10 km outside the town of Moulins, France. The event runs for 15 days, with three two-hour workshops on every dance floor plus a scattering of short sessions, and three shift of bands scheduled to play into the small hours. Advanced registration is required, but at a modest price. Through 2019, the event featured at least nine dance floors. It started to return in 2022 with three and expanded in 2023 to five.
On the event web site, they have some videos and photos, and links to the schedule, and performers, including links to schedules for past years (all in French).
I have put together a separate page with some overview information about the Grand Bal.
You can also check out the Grand Bal de l'Euope Facebook group, with over 20,000 members.
The last time I went to Gennetines (2016), a film crew were active everywhere. It turns out that documentary filmmaker Laetitia Carton is a dancer, and she had a crew documenting the event. They edited down the massive collection of footage and released a film in 1998, appropriately titled Le Grand Bal. The film had a debut at the Cannes Film Festival, and got some good reviews like this one. I have not had the opportunity to sit down and watch the film, but it appears to be available on a streaming documentary film site. You can view the "kickstarter-ish" promo video, with English subtitles, and the theatrical trailer for the movie itself.
Sidmouth (2025: 1-8 August), Sidmouth, Devon, UK: "The week-long annual festival is a National treasure and major Cultural Institution, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the East Devon coast every August. The festival’s long and rich history is part of what makes it unique and so well-loved by so many."
Big event with "big concerts, the dances, the late-night parties, the dance displays, the smaller-scale events, the special events for children or young people or the extensive workshop programme."
£495 for an "Adult Super-early bird" All-in-One Week pass. Lower prices for ages 12-17 and 18-25, for weekend-only passes. Camping extra.
Lark Camp (2025: Aug 1-9) just east of Mendocino, California (about 150 miles N of San Francisco): Lark Camp started in 1979 by the founder of the Lark in the Morning musical instrument store (now under new ownership and located in Berkely). The camp features music and dance instruction in a wide variety of styles, typically inclding a touch of French, Breton, and related genres.
The Festival Interceltique (2025: August 1-10, Lorient, Brittany, France): A HUGE pan-Celtic festival in the Breton town of Lorient. Lots of performances, and some participatory dancing. The website said that in 2023, they had more than 5000 performers over 10 days and nights of concerts and shows, and nearly 950,000 visitors and spectators!
Boom Bal Festival (2025: August 21-24, Belgium): Two dance floors, workshops, and nearby camping (included with the cost of admission). Food Trucks and coffee stands. Admission for all five days, €168. Single day passes for €34 (Wednesday) or €62 (Thursday through Sunday). Free access to the campgrounds (with showers and toilets), rental tents available for €30, €50, or €150.
They also have a schedule of events around Belgium
39éme Festival d’accordéon (2024: 6-8 September, 35133 Billé, France, about 45 km NE of Rennes): Dance, music, and singing workshops, and an accordion contest. Registration only 12€? for the whole event? maybe?
Big Branch Festival (2024: September 6-8, Toronoto, Ontario, Canada): Sliding scale admission: $125-$225. Target of 61 dancers.
The Festival des Panards Dansants (2024: October 4-6, Leeds, England, UK): Hosted by French Dance in Todmorden, Yorkshire. Presumably they will host others.
Folkiri (2023: 5-7 October, Le Mans, France): Planned as a three-day event, with an opening concert Thursday, Friday evening Bal Folk, Saturday afternoon accordion and dance workshops, and a closing Bal Saturday night. Per-session prices, with some combination passes.
Cadansa (2024: October 31 - November 3, Steenwijk, Netherlands): A four-day-long festival first held in 2012, and is "the biggest balfolkfestival in the Netherlands." Fifteen bands, space for 1000 dancers, several dance floors, many workshops, etc. Full event price €135.
Skint (2024: November 1-3, Ashover Village Hall, Derbyshire, England): "A warm, budget-friendly Scandi and International folk weekend in the Peaks, where everyone pitches in to help." Full weekend admission is only £23, or £53 including all meals and camping. The Skint website offers a library of tunes.
Gennetines, L‘Automne des Gauthiers (2024: Oct 31 - Nov 3, Central France): This appears to be a new-ish small dance event. They probably will limit attendance to below 150 people. More information and registration information available in the summer.
Gennetines, Le Petit Bal des Gauthiers (2024: Dec 27-31, Central France): This appears to be a cross between a business meeting of the association that hosts Le Grand Bal and a small-ish dance event. They limit attendance to about 150 people.

Sheet Music ("Partitions" in French)

Some bands have published tune books, and you can also find other resources on-line.

The Gurdy World List of Sheet Music collections: Provides a long list of links to resources in a variety of musical genres. I’ve added direct links to the larger collections to the list below.
Armins DL Noten: One-hundred-sixty-seven page collection of music for the hurdy-gurdy (Drehleier in German). Version 1.09 of 3 Jan 2025! Most tunes provide only the melody line, but some have chords or harmonies and a few have links to recordings on YouTube. Full table of contents and comments on playing the instrument at the front. Text in German, but some lyrics in French.
Armin’s Site has note collections in several different styles.
Armins Notensammlung: Eighty-five page collection of French-Canadian and French music, Version 1.07 of 3 Jan 2025! Most tunes provide only the melody line, but some have chords or harmonies and a few have links to recordings on YouTube. Full table of contents at the front. Text in German, but some lyrics in French. (The first 20 pages seems to be missing the music!)
Armin’s Site has note collections in several different styles.
Leslie Barr’s Open Band Tunebook: Fifteen pages of tunes, set as one long piece. No chords, no index, no obvious order.
The The Cam French tune collection: A collection of nearly 100 tunes in an on-line system that can transpose between C, B flat, and E flat.
French Breton Tunebook from Gurdy World: Sixty-two pages of tunes, organized by dance form (Scottish, Bourrée, Mazurka, Valse, Polka, Chapeloise, Breton dances, and others), all with simple melody lines without chords. Short table of contents showing sections at the front.
This appears to have the same contents as the David Bawdon Tunebook Dance Tunes from Central France and Brittany.
Ian Law’s French Dance Folio (scanned to PDF): From the Lark Camp Music Library. Simple melody lines for each tune, with suggested voices but no chords, and an alphabetical index at the back. Thirty pages, V10 edition of 04-02-15.
Gutenbrunner Nachlese: 116 pages with 283 tunes from the 2005-2008 Gutenbrunner/Waldviertel MusikTage, organized in sections for different forms, with an index of titles in each section. Some have simple melody lines, some include harmonies, and some have chords. Waltz, Polka, Mazurka, Scottish, Bourrée, Jig, March, Song, Zwiefache, Breton tunes, etc.
This material was originally hosted by the site Schoenfeldiger.at, but that site has gone down. Archive.org has a copy of the document.
Das kleine Notenbuch Des Grazer Bordun-Stammtisches: Thirty-Three pages, G/C Edition ver 1.03, 18 Feb 2018. "An attempt at a small standard repertoire for making music together." (in German) Melody lines and chords for most tunes. Simple table of contents of sections at the front.
Neil Brook’s Lark Camp French Tunes: From the Lark Camp Music Library. Simple melody lines for each tune, four pages, from the 2016 camp
The Massive Central Tune Book No.1 (pink cover): Twenty-nine pages, compiled by Mel Stevens, ©1988-1998, with simple melody lines (no chords) and table of contents listing tune titles.
Over the Water Hurdy Gurdy Association Tunebook: A 20-page collection of tunes in different styles, including 2x Bourrée, 3x Bourrée, Scottish, Valse, and "Other," with a table of contents listing titles. Most tunes provide chords.
Passau Open Session Notensammlung: One hundred twelve pages, July 2022 edition. One to four melody/harmony lines, with chords. Ten page list of nearly 200 titles at the back, more a table of contents than an index.
Sessionbuch Großdalzig, Sehlis: Forty-Nine pages, attempting to provide a standard repertoire for music sessions. List of sources and alphabetical title index at the back.
Standard Tunebook: A nine-page document that "includes all the first tunes one would learn on hurdy-gurdy." Some include chords, but many have only a melody line.
Tapage Book (scanned to PDF): Seventeen pages of tunes, most with simple melody lines only, but some with harmonies or chords.
Travek’s Tune Book: Seventy-Four pages with simple melody lines, organized by dance form and with an index. Originally offerred by TRAVAK.NL.
Musiques a partager: The Musiques A partager site has LOTS of sheet music (over 500 pieces as of 1 Sept 2023). I’m not a musician, so I can’t really say what’s what, and how much of the music is actually usable for Bal Folk.
Gerard Godon: Gerard has a book of partitions on his website, both his compositions and his arrangements.
Le Sextet A Claques: They used to have sheet music for dozens of their own compositions on their website, but that’s down, and the internet archive didn’t archive the PDFs. Luckily, I had snagged copies, and have a ZIP file of them all. You can find their music on their YouTube channel.
Les Zeoles: The Les Zeoles tunebook produced in conjunction with their third CD. "A collection of scores bringing together all the pieces from our third album (Urban Raphsodie) is available. This collection also contains the scores of some pieces from the two previous albums. This is a collection of scores in the universal notation system and not tablatures for diatonic accordions. You will find the theme and the grid for each song."
For orders from outside France, they suggest contacting them via mail message.
Zwiefacher: Franz Fuchs in Austria maintains one of the most complete sites for zwiefacher music, in standard notation and accordeon tablature. I understand that he adds new tunes each month.

Another site has a single PDF with nearly 100 tunes. (It has an index on the last page.) Alas, I don’t recognize the titles.

Dancilla.com (in German) has some links to Zwiefacher sources, including some from 1928. Other sections include origins, history of the name, and some videos.

Bands and Musicians

The Agenda Trad listing of bands, is very thorough, though you may want to have the name of a band in mind when searching their long list! (Although the site is set up to list performers in several countries, as of July 2024, it only lists bands in France.)
The page of performers for Le Grand Bal is another good way to go. They keep it up-to-date, though it may only include performers for the current / most recent year.
I see that there's a new Gennetines Grand Bal de l'Europe YouTube Channel with 132 videos (as of 26 Dec 2023). It appears that the channel tries to feature one video by each band (perhaps one from each band at the 2023 festival and perhaps one for each band at the 2022 festival). They also have some providing "ambiance" and a view of the organization.

Accordzéäm (France): A band with young, enthusiastic, and very talented musicians. You can find a playlist with the tunes from their second album on the Accordzéäm YouTube channel.
Airboxes (Belgium): Bert Leemans (chromatic accordion) and Guus Herremans (diatonic accordion) solely play their own compositions for dancing. "The variation in intimate solos and colourful interplay makes for an all-encompassing totality."
Alérions (France): The Alérions web site provides information on the band members, as does the Alérions Facebook page. You can find a YouTube playlist for the first Alérions album (1984) and a YouTube playlist for the second Alérions album (1987).
Au Gré des Vents (Alsace, France): Acrofolk profile page for Au Gré des Vents with contact information and discography. An Alsatian website lists the release of the 9th CD from Au Gré des Vents.
Le Bal de l’Ephemere (SE France): A trio, featuring Cathy Donin, accordion/vocals; Gérard Thévenet, guitar/vocals; and Philippe Lecat, violin/vocals. Three CDs, released in 2015, 2018, and 2023. Also on Facebook and Instagram. "The "Bal de l’Éphémère" was born from the desire to offer a "trad" dance experience with original compositions and lyrics. The music and songs offered are imbued with the influences of each musician and result in a particular identity, a poetic, sensitive patchwork, tinged with rock and fantasy."
Le Bal Itinerant: A French band with one album on BandCamp. They also have a Facebook page that provides this description (as translated by Google): "A troupe that travels from village to village and offers a guided ball every evening."
Stefano Baldano (Italy): Italian musician playing for Bal Folk events. His name is similar to an athelete, and that makes searches difficult.
Ball Noir (Netherlands): This really is not my thing, but there’s a Dutch band that plays Bal Folk music with heavy-metal sensibilities. No, really, it’s danceable metal. Really! This is what they say about themselves: "BALL NOIR is a Dutch metal and folk band. Their sound is like a good whisky: different flavours like electronic metal, medieval instruments and melodic doom are released one by one and make it into a final blend that tastes as life should be: thorough, adventures and with a complex aftertaste. Inspired by their heroes Anathema, My Dying Bride and Qntal, BALL NOIR compose their own music, with a longing for haunting melodies and smashing heartbeats."
You can find more information on the Ball Noir YouTube channel.
Bargainatt (France): A trio with their own Facebook page and YouTube channel The Bargainatt website lists three CDs, with an option to download the third. All three are available for downloading from The Bargainatt Bandcamp page.
Geraud Barralon (Brasstown, North Carolina, USA): grew up in France playing Bal Folk music, but now lives in the USA
Patrick Bouffard (Central France): The French Patrick Bouffard WikiPedia page provides a brief biography, and a discography that lists 16 CDs, as a solo artist, in bands that he led, and bands in which he was a member. Amazon.com seems to only carry one of his CDs. Another discography lists fewer CDs, but provides more links to band in which Patrick was a member. You can search YouTube for Patrick Bouffard content generally, and also find a YouTube playlist with the tracks from a 1990 release.
Dan Newton’s Cafe Accordion (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
La Chavannée (Central France): This is one of the bands that features Hurdy-Gurdy "Rock Star" Patrick Bouffard. An auto-generated La Chavannée YouTube topic channel appears to feature five CDs, but it isn’t clear that they all feature the same band.
Ciac Boum: A trio consisting of Christian Pacher (violin, vocals), Julien Padovani (chromatic accordion, vocals, percussion), and Alban Pacher (violin, vocals), or earlier Robert Thébaut, all of whom also play in other groups. They have six CDs, released in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, and 2020. They have a Facebook page and YouTube channel.
"This trio offers energetic and inventive music, borrowing from the traditional heritage of Poitou of which it has become a recognized ambassador with covers of traditional tunes as well as original compositions. In 2004, Julien Padovani's meeting with Christian Pacher gave birth to a duo mixing traditional, improvised music and song. In 2011, with Robert Thebaut, the duo became a trio and offered a ball formula: Ciac Boum. Since then, the band has performed on numerous stages both in France and in Europe (Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Germany, Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, Estonia, etc.) and released five albums of dance music (Compagnie Douglas Volume 1.2 and 3, Le Grand Barbichon prod, Vol4, vol5 and the new album 2020). At the beginning of 2020 Robert Thébaut decided to leave the group. Alban Pacher replaced him on violin.
Ciac Boum has a solid reputation among dancers in France and Europe, as its unique music exudes joy, energy and celebration.
Each musician being a multi-instrumentalist, the stage then becomes a laboratory where the desire to explode the sound palette is obvious for each of the protagonists."
The Committee Band (English Ceilidh): "A large and powerful body — too complicated to itemize — who have gravitated from a diary-filler at Cecil Sharp House Knees-Ups to a first-choice, scene-stealing, headlining, barnstorming ceilidh Band." "dancemusic: tunes from all over the place, which we play for English country dancing. We mostly started playing traditional English music, but over the years we’ve picked up tunes from further afield — if it’s a good tune we’ll use it."
Confluence — Folk Duo (SW England): Cello and keyboard / Accordion
Martin Coudroy (Central France): Martin plays solo on diatonic accordion, with some regular musical partners, including Duo Billy Coudroy (Scandinavian on nyckelharpa, diatonic accordion, flute, and vocals), Duo Jonsson Coudroy (Swedish/Breton on fiddle and diatonic accordion, 4 CDs and several videos), Duo Tanghe Coudroy (Scandinavian on guitar and diatonic accordion, 3 CDs and several videos), and as an extra pick-up musician with several musical friends.
La Cuivraille: "La Cuivraille is above all the pleasure of sharing, gathering and making people dance around a mixed music that combines the best of traditional and groove music. To the sound of a percussive brass section, a dancing violin, a well-placed bass and fine percussions, let yourself be carried away by the sound of this “little big band” and enter the dance thanks to these musicians full of fantasy!"
Stéphane Delicq (Central France): Late composer and player of the accordeon diatonique (died 3 Feb 2010), known for some of the "swoopiest" French couples dance music, and for his waltzes, in 3/4, 5/4, 8/4, and 11/4 times. Alas, Delicq’s personal website seems to have gone away. (Some archive fragments exist here and here. The latter includes PDFs of three of the tunes, Vivre (Valse á 5 temps), Les Bas Noirs (Valse á 8 temps), and Les Yeux de Jeanne (Valse á 11 temps)
From an accordion forum, about Stephane Delicq: His style is unmistakable: Utterly French, minor keys, irregular meters, much use of thirds and sixths, strong melodies, rhythms you have to move to and a wistful bitter sweet mood. The tunes sound simple but are not easy to bring off. In his own playing there is no flashy virtuosity, just the finest expression and belows control you are ever likely to hear. That same poster lists an Italian site where sheet music for some of Delicq’s compositions can be found. You can also find seveal of Delicq’s tunes played on YouTube, and a listing of his four CDs, with samples, at Amazon.FR
Doug Feeney maintains a YouTube playlist of Stéphane Delicq tunes, some played by Stéphane, some played by others. An on-line Stéphane Delicq discography lists five CDs.
Duo Absynthe (France): "The meeting between two night owls. Dreamy mazurkas, dynamite scottishes, crazy bourrées and improvisation..." Aurélien Claranbaux : accordéon chromatique bisonore, percussion; Sylvain Letourneau : guitar, vocals
Les écoliers de St Genest (Central France): One CD, found on YouTube. Also the title of a Mazurka melody.
Eloise & Company (Brattleboro, Vermont, USA): American accordionist Rachel Bell and fiddle player Becky Tracy play for contra dances and Bal Folk events. They host a monthly Bal Folk dance in Brattleboro and have music available on Bandcamp and also a Facebook page
Emily and John (Toronto, Ontario) A duo of musicians heavily involved in the Toronto Bal Folk scene, with a tunebook.
Emily and the Simons (England/Belgium): "Emily & the Simons are an Anglo-Belgian Balfolk trio. They met in England’s Peak District, at the folk festival ’Skint’ and began to perform together professionally soon after. Their music is centred around Emily’s compositions, drawing inspiration from life’s encounters and the energy of the dance-floor. Their style is highly expressive and improvisatory, full of passion, tenderness and playfulness. With a wide repertoire ranging from exquisite, sensual mazurkas to joyful, driving bourrées, their music transports the imagination, stirs the feet and uplifts the spirit."
Emsaverien (Central France): The Emsaverien YouTube channel features playlists for three albums.
Videos here, here, and here (all Breton tunes), and a French Wikipedia article (translated by Google)
Estrad (Central France): A single youTube video for Estrad, but I have a full CD of theirs.
Féo (Central France, 2013 archive of MySpace page): Powerful playing, music for traditional French dances, of central france and brittany: polka, hanter dro, cercle mixer, mazurka, scottish, valse, bourree 2 & 3 temps, kost as c’hoat.
This band played wonderul music for a workshop in "low-down, knuckle dragging, 3-time bourreés" at the Gennetines in 2012.
The Folk All-in Band (Sweden): play big band versions of traditional dance tunes. Here’s one nice, lively video
Helen Gentile & Lewis Wood (England): "An exciting duo, playing instrumental folk music on Clarinet, Fiddle and Guitar." One CD available, a second in progress. You can find Gentile and Wood on Bandcamp and on Facebook.
Gig CB! (England, English Ceilidh): "GIG CB! (The George Inn Giant Ceilidh Band), probably be biggest e-ceilidh (and euro-ceilidh) band in the UK, is a 12-piece Mind Blowing, Fun Loving, Music Jumping, Foot Tapping, Bottle Hugging Dance Band that will blow your socks off! Our distinctive sound and drive comes froma combination of a 3-piece brass section, massed fiddles, accordions, concertina, flute, mandola, and funky electric bass." Their website lists three CDs, available at their gigs.
Gonnagles (Netherlands): The Gonnagles Facebook page has a 2017 post, saying that they played together for the first time in three years. A 2014 archive of their site mentions their latest recording, and the Gonnagles BandCamp page has the four-track CD available for free download.
It isn’t clear if the name has anything to do with Gonnagles in the Terry Pratchet Discworld series.
Rémi Geffroy (France): accordeonist, with his own band and Facebook page
Benoit Guerbigny (France): Several CDs, in combination with a variety of other musicians:
Duel en Sol Majeur, 1998: (Duel in G-Major)
A live recording, with musicians Benoit Guerbigny and Christian Pacher, combining traditional melodies and original compositions.

Duo Guerbigny Thebaut, 2001: Les Pieds sur la Braise — Musiques à danser du Poitou
Music for the dances of the Poitou region of France, a collaboration of two musicians (Benoit Guerbigny & Robert Thébaut) and one dance leader (Jean François Miniot)

Trio Guerbigny, 2009: Les Pieds sur la Braise, Volume 2 — Musiques à danser du Poitou
More music for the dances of Poitou, this time with a trio of musicians: Gabriel Lenoir (fiddle), Benoit Guerbigny (accordeon), and Aurélien Tanghe (guitar).

Benoit Guerbigny en Compagnie — La Généreuse, 2006: The same combination of musicians: Gabriel Lenoir (fiddle), Benoit Guerbigny (accordeon), and Aurélien Tanghe (guitar). I don’t have this CD, but see that it features music more typical of Central France, with only a bit of Poitou (mazurka, slow waltz, bourreé, Scottish, etc.)
Herriko Dantzak (Basque): I can’t find much about this band, but do find one Basque site that lists a different Herriko Dantzak CD for sale. The name simply translates as "Folk Dances."
Kokin (Basque): This is my favorite (defunct) Basque band. You can find a YouTube playlist with the tracks from their album. Kokin play(ed) modern arrangements of traditional Basque melodies, and some modern couples dances (Scottish, Mazurka, Valse). The opening track (a Scottish), includes scat singing in the Basque language, Track 9 (Nabil), is a lovely a capella Mazurka. Specific Basque dances include Fandango and Arin Arin, as well as two dances called in Basque by Agnès. Musicians: Agnès Perez (Ahots/Voice, Xirula/Flute, Txistu/Whistle, Xiribitu), Julie Mary (Ahots/Voice, Trikitiak/Diatonic Accordion), Thierry Biscary (Ahots/Voice, Whistle)
Gabriel Lenoir (Deûlémont, Northern France): Violinist, perfoming solo and in various regular bands, including La Cuivraille and Shillelagh
Benjamin Macke (Lille, France): Benjamin plays diatonic accordions, both solo and in various groups, including Duo Macke-Bornauw (Flemish bagpipes and accordion) (their YouTube channel), Shillelagh, The Amazing Airbags (children’s bagpipe orchestra) (on YouTube, also here), and in a quartet: Benjamin Macke, accordéon diatonique and foot bass; Christophe "Pher" Motury, bugle and trumpet; Jean-Christophe Cheneval, vibraphone; Aurélien Tanghe, bass.
Mine de Rien (Bergues, France): Quartet, based in a town just south of Dunkirk, near the border with Belgium. (Here’s what Google Translate makes of the Mine de Rien site.) Mine de Rien also provides desceiptions of dances, with videos.
Naragonia (Netherlands): bagpipe and accordion duo or quartet with guitar and violin. See below for their live streams
No&Me (Lyon, France): "For more than 10 years, Noémie has been travelling through the world of traditional music, along with her inseparable diatonic accordion. Through various influences in festivals and workshops, she has developed a style all of her own... and immediately recognisable by all. Through her keyboard, she makes us discover partner dances that are out of the ordinary, to the sound of a soft and mesmerizing music. She knows how to mix sighs and irregular notes, surprising those who dance, and entrancing those who are listening." Her website lists seven CDs.
Oscina (England): "Oscina brings together three accomplished musicians to create their unique and captivating sound ... Anna Pack (diatonic accordions), Frances Watt (voice, flutes) and Chris Walshaw (sax, pipes, whistles). Together they create mesmerising dance music to lose yourself in."
Oskarri (Basque): According to the Oskarri Wikipedia entry (!), the band formed in 1971 and have released over 25 albums of music.
Parasol (Central France): Gérard Godon makes beautiful music for dancing, often with Caroline Carton or Eric Thézé. His website shows 10 CDs, with the latest released in 2020. It also shows a book of partitions (sheet music) for his compositions, and a DVD. You can also find A YouTube playlist of Parasol videos
Patxi Eta Batbiru (Basque; Bayonne, France): After Kokin brok up, Patxi Perez went on to form a succession of other bands. You can find three CDs by Patxi eta Batbiru on Amazon, and contact information on Patxi Perez’s profile page at the Basque Cultural Institute site. The 2010 CD by Patxi eta Konpania liner notes included all the text for the called dance tracks. You can find a Patxi eta Konpania YouTube channel. It appears to be automatically generated, but appears to include tracks for four different CDs.
Petit Piment (France): Quartet with diatonic accordion, percussion, and vocalists. They have a 2023 CD on Bandcamp.
Portmanteau (Cambridge, UK): "Traditional Balfolk dance tunes with a touch of modernity. Portmanteau's blend of acoustic instruments and subtle synthesizers creates a captivating musical experience that honors tradition while embracing the future." You can find their album Laridé Emitting Diodes on Bandcamp.
Philippe Plard (Le Mans, Central France): Solid playing of music for traditional dances of central France (Scottish, Mazurka, Bourree, Mixer, Chapelloise, Valse) and Brittany (An Dro, Hanter Dro), with several albums under his own name and that of his trio VAG (for Violin, Accordeon, Guitar). The VAG web site has not only information on the band (which played its last dance at Gennetines in July, 2007), but also sheet music ("Patritions") for some of the tunes.
Souffles de Vie

VAG, Complicités, 1999

VAG, Vos pieds ont des oreilles, 2002

VAG, Des sourires et des larmes, 2005
Rue Pascal (Central France): Thierry Pinson : accordéon diatonique, sax alto Grégory Jolivet : vielle à roue Cyril Berthet : flûte traversière, sax soprano. You can find them on Facebook
Sawney White Bird (Oxford, England): A trio: Ravi Sawney, melodeon, vocals, dance instructor; Heather White, saxophone, whistles; Jane Bird, concertinas, harmonical, bagpipes, vocals, English Country Dance caller. "We love music, and we love dancing — we provide ceilidh music for your traditional English ceilidh, and also have a large repertoire of French, Breton and continental Balfolk, drawn from traditional and contemporary sources, plus our own compositions. We focus on getting a light and luscious sound, occasionally going for big and rhythmic renditions. We aim to provide an exciting evening!" You can Find SWB on BandCamp.
Le Sextet A Clacques (France): Accordion, trumpet, guitar, cello, and twin fiddles, playing a mix of traditional tunes and their own compositions. You can find their music on their YouTube channel. (The archived version of their website is above, the dead version here). They provided Sheet music for many of their composition.
Shillelagh (Lille, France): A trio who play music from northern France and southern Belgium; Benjamin Macke, diatonic accordion; Gabriel Lenoir, violin; Aurélien Tanghe, guitar.
Smitlap (France): When browsing the website for Bemol Productions (defunct?), looking at the CDs for the band Shillelagh (above), I came across this live recording of music for the dancing of Central France (scottishe, bourrée, chapelloise, valse, mazurka, cercle, etc.). The Smitlap website seems to show two CDs.
Sons Libres (France): I have two CDs, and have found a YouTube playlist
Sous Le Pont (Avignon, France): An unusual trio of instrumentalists: Guillaume Viala, Xylophone; Jean-Baptiste Brunel, Accordéon; Raphaël André, Trombone.
The band hosts the Bal Libre site for music released into the public domain, and has many other musical endeavors.
Tan Ba’n Ty (Brittany, France): One CD: Tomm Ruz, Music mostly of central Brittany (Laridé, Hanter Dro, An Dro, Gavotte, Rond de St-Vincent, etc.), with one Scottish and one Cercle Circassien. I didn’t actually hear them at the festival, and picked up their CD on a semi-recommendation.
Topette!! (Anglo-French): "Topette!! occupy a unique position in the current folk and traditional music landscape. A collaboration between five highly-regarded individuals from two countries, they’re the kind of perfect idea that, if they didn’t already exist, someone would have to invent. Yet Topette!! are no mere ‘project’ band. They’re a fully-formed and functioning group of the kind that rarely comes around nowadays. Topette!! are a true collective - bonded as much by the joy found in each other’s company as in their shared musical vision.
Julien Cartonnet is a powerhouse on both bagpipes and banjo. Fiddler James Delarre’s innate melodic and harmonic sensibilities make him the perfect match for accordion virtuoso Andy Cutting. Tania Buisse’s propulsive bodhrán playing and Barn Stradling’s singularly distinctive bass grooves complete a sound that is irresistible to ears and feet alike."
CDs: "ON — Live at the Jam Jar" (2024), Bourdon, Rhododendron and C’Est Le Pompom.
Trio Loubelya (Toulouse, France): Trio Loubelya: Rolland MARTINEZ (contrebasse, clarinette), Florent LALET (saxophones), Marie CONSTANT (accordéon diatonique). "A young trio of musician-dancers, Loubelya is the alliance of subtle melodies and the breath of the accordion, wonderfully colored by the intoxicating timbre of the saxophone and carried by the energy of the clarinet and the captivating depth of the double bass. A harmonious cocktail of original compositions, traditional music, and covers gleaned from encounters along the way to festivals... An irresistible call to dance!"
Villeux du Bournonnais: You can find A YouTube playlist for a 1979 album. Very traditional, with bagpipes and hurdy-gurdy.
Vinta (Toronto, Ontario): Emilyn Stam, one of the musicians, is one of the people who started the Toronto bal folk scene along with Tangi Lion. See also Emily and John
Wheezer and Squeezer (Vermont, USA): "a high-powered, one-of-a-kind, Vermont-based duo (Jeremiah McLane and Timothy Cummings) who share music rooted in the traditional dance repertoire of Northern Europe. Masters of the piano accordion and quieter, bellows-blown bagpipes"
Wipidoup (Brittany, France): Playing powerful music for Breton dances, this band features three musicians: Gildas La Buhé (vocals, saxophone), Régis Huiban (accordion, chromatic "accordina"), and Pierre Tardivel (bass, contrabass, luth ouvrier, bigouden ’goni), and on their third CD, a fourth: Philippe Gloaguen (guitars). Three CDs were available on this web site:
L’Opium du Danseur, 2008, Music for Breton dances (Hanter dro, Plinn, Laridenn, etc.) and one Mazurka

L’Appel á la transe, 2010, Breton music

Kailh a gorrion, 2011, More Breton music, with one waltz
A glowing review of a fourth Wipidoup CD says that they have moved away from their previous label. The Tamm Kreiz Wipidoup page lists five albums in its discography. Amazon has the latest Wipidoup album.
Les Zeoles (Paris, France): One of my favorite Bal Folk bands. An accordion duo with five CDs and a tunebook. They often perform "with friends."