Tales of Witchcraft & Wonder - Inkubus Sukkubus

Inkubus Sukkubus (est 1989) – 35 years of witchcraft and wonder

Founded by Gloucestershire band Inkubus Sukkubus in 2016, the Tales of Witchcraft & Wonder events were established to celebrate the folklore and dark folk tales of Great Britain, and perhaps, more specifically, Gloucestershire and the West Country.

The first event was held at Gloucester’s historic Blackfriars Priory in September 2016, comprising performances on pipe & tabor by Gwilym Davies, storytelling by local author and historian Kirsty Hartsiotis, and music from Inkubus Sukkubus, raising £2,284 for Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. It also coincided with the launch of the first of Inkubus Sukkubus’ ToWW trilogy of albums, Barrow Wake.

The following year, 2017, saw the release of the second album in the trilogy – Belas Knap. To celebrate its release, Inkubus Sukkubus organised a weekend takeover of the entirety of St Briavels Castle in the Forest of Dean – Midsummer at the Castle – where for two days, music, talks, storytelling, ghost hunts and even a Pagan handfasting were enjoyed. Around 60 people – including the band – stayed within the ancient walls and managed to get two good nights' sleep, despite the resident ghosts.

In 2018, the band released the third album in the trilogy – Sabrina: The Goddess of the Severn – and organised two separate ToWW events in celebration. One was held at the historic Minsterworth Village Hall on the banks of the River Severn – featuring storytelling by Chloe of Midnight Storytellers, performance poetry by Peter Wyton, and dancing by Styx of Stroud – and the other in the ancient barn at National Trust-owned The Fleece Inn, Bretforton, Worcestershire – also with Chloe storytelling, and all-female Morris side Boss Morris dancing in the evening sunshine.

2019 saw the band enlisting the help of the brilliant Exmouth Shanty Men as support and taking Tales of Witchcraft & Wonder to three venues in the South West: Exeter, Boscastle and Penzance. The acapella shanty men joined the band each night on singing the Inkubus Sukkubus song Lost to the Sea. The band also returned to Minsterworth Village Hall, where they were joined by historian and archivist John Putley in his guise as ‘ The Witchfynder’, and Border Morris dancers Styx of Stroud.

In 2020 and 2021, the Covid pandemic hit the world, and so Inkubus Sukkubus joined other performers globally in doing live streams, while aching to get back out there and meet living, breathing human beings again. It was a tough time for all, although Mother Nature was able to recharge while there were no cars on the road and no planes in the sky. Candia and Tony also used the time to further research some of the songs featured on the trilogy of albums and published a paperback book featuring 13 stories, with illustrations by the couple, and a 13-track CD.

At the end of September in 2022, Tales of Witchcraft & Wonder was held as a two-day affair within the Tudor buildings and extended site of The Folk of Gloucester on the city’s historic Westgate Street. Throughout the buildings over the two days were a series of stalls, with performers including Devon-based Circle of Spears with their WITCH play; a witchcraft talk by Kirstie Bingham of John Moore Museum in Tewkesbury; ritualistic music and dance by Blackthorn (Herefordshire) and Boss Morris (Stroud); a selling exhibition by Decadent Drawing of Whitby; storytelling by authors Kirsty Hartsiotis and Anthony Nanson; dance from Merrie Morgana; and music from Davey Dodds, Bygonz, Ominous Folk of Hopeless Maine, Swing Rioters, Sproatly Smith and Inkubus Sukkubus. The final figure raised from the event was £3,300 , which went directly to The Folk of Gloucester to help protect its early-16th-century and mid-17th-century buildings for future generations.

In 2023, Inkubus Sukkubus took Tales of Witchcraft & Wonder back to Boscastle in North Cornwall to perform at the wonderfully intimate village hall, before being invited to return to Blackfriars Priory as part of Gloucester History Festival.

For the band’s 35 th Anniversary, in 2024, the band hosted a Tales of Witchcraft & Wonder mini-tour, with Gloucestershire band Toadstone in support on all dates. They started the tour off with a Beltaine weekend on May Hill near the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire (the location their song Forest Hill is based on) featuring a witches’ market, Border Morris from Styx and Erstwhile, local folklore with John Putley, storytelling with Anthony Nanson, and a celebratory ritual hosted by Whitby Krampus Run. They followed up with a return to Boscastle in Cornwall, the barn at National Trust-owned Fleece Inn in Worcestershire, and their first time playing the incredible medieval Great Hall at Leicester Guildhall.

On September 14, 2024 – in the lead up to the Autumn Equinox – Tales of Witchcraft & Wonder will once again be held at Minsterworth Village Hall on the banks of the River Severn. The brilliant Toadstone will be joining them once again with their distinctive songs of dark folklore, and camping will be available for those who are travelling and want to take advantage of the pop-up bar, serving mead, cider, ale, wine, and soft drinks. Tickets are available via paganfiremuzick.com/witchcraft – we hope you can join us!

Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again.

The Folk of Gloucester

September 14th Tales of Witchcraft & Wonder

Minsterworth Village Hall

Tickets with Camping are here: https://www.wegottickets.com/event/625161

Tickets without Camping are here: https://www.wegottickets.com/event/625060

Facebook event page is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1539390109974317