Special fundraiser with Pavlos Carvalho for the Cuckfield Festival

Spokeswoman Hannah Carter said: “Pavlos Carvalho and Rebetiki Seranata will be online to get our toes tapping and our fingers clicking to the rhythms and melodies of Greek folk music and song.

“Book on www.ticketsource.co.uk/cuckfieldmusicfest or, if you prefer, through the Festival’s website www.cuckfieldmusicfest.co.uk. Tickets are free of charge, but you will be invited to make an optional donation to help Cuckfield Music Festival take place in mid-June this year.

“We hardly need to be reminded how difficult the last year of lockdowns has been for us all, nor how much we’re hoping for a return to normal soon. Musicians are longing to be able to perform live again, and audiences to be able to come and hear them. This year’s Festival from June 17-20 will necessarily be more modest than had originally been planned – soloists, duos and trios rather than any large-scale events – with audience sizes probably still limited by some form of social distancing. But with so many businesses still unable to operate, commercial sponsorship remains scarce.

“We are thrilled Pavlos Carvalho and Rebetiki Seranata have agreed to support the Festival, with this fundraising event, albeit online. It will be an evening of songs exploring soulful Greek music between 1940 and 1952 with one or two nods to its influences from Smyrna and even Epirus. With influences from north, south, east and west, including the spices of tango and swing, it still remains uniquely Greek. Coloured by the sounds of violin, mainland lute, bouzouki, guitar, baglama and voice, the evening will be filled with the sound of music to sing, eat, drink and dance to. Do book a (free) ticket and join us on March 26.”