Standout performances from both headline and lesser-known artists helped make the 2011 Otley Folk Festival a recession-defying success.

Visitor numbers at the event, boosted by appearances from big-name acts like Chumbawamba and John Kirkpatrick, matched the high levels of last year, with thousands of people enjoying a packed, four day programme. Organiser Steve Fairholme was also delighted to see some emerging bands winning new fans — and several old festival venues back in use. He said: “This year’s festival was brilliant and certainly exceeded our expectations.

“The numbers were about the same as last year which was great, because we were expecting a bit of a dip due to the recession and from how other festivals had been faring. But we appear to have escaped that, which might have been helped by us keeping our ticket prices the same for yet another year — I think people appreciate that. All of our headline acts lived up to their talent and capability and gave really good performances. Chumbawamba were our biggest act and they were great but some of the up-and-coming bands like the Heathen Kings and the Phil Langran Band performed really well too and went down well.

“We had more venues this year and were able to include The Fleece, Horse and Farrier and Black Horse pubs, as well as the Labour Club.

“All of those have been part of the festival in the past but were then unavailable for a while, so it was good to have them back. Organisationally having more venues is a bigger headache for me but it's definitely worthwhile as it means the town as a whole has more of a festival atmosphere.”

Other acts performing in town between last Thursday, and Sunday, included Rosie Doonan and The Snapdragons, The Duncan McFarlane Band, Maggie Boyle, Dave Vermond, Gerry McNeice and Bayou Gumbo.