​FAIRPORT Convention, the group which pioneered folk-rock, will visit Margate on Saturday, January 30 as part of their annual winter tour.

The five-piece band will perform an evening concert at the Theatre Royal.

The 32-date run of concerts will be Fairport Convention’s 26th consecutive winter tour.

As much a part of the New Year as Christmas is of the old, these tours have become an annual tradition.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Simon Nicol said: “Fairport Convention is primarily a live band and we are happiest when we’re on the road. Fairport has been gigging for over 40 years and we still love every minute of it. Our regular winter tour aims to bring a spot of brightness and warmth to the dark cold evenings of January and February. – for us as well as our audiences

"We came to Margate on our acoustic tour last year.

“We will enjoy playing our full electric set for the audience this time round.”

Mr Nicol is the only founding member left of the group, which played its first gig in May 1967.

Bass player Dave Pegg has been in the line-up for nearly as long – he joined the band in 1970. The current winter tour marks the start of his 40th year with Fairport.

He said: “This is an important anniversary for me.

“Forty years is a long stretch – you’d think I might have got time off for good behaviour! Obviously, the band – like music itself – has seen a lot of changes over the last four decades but I can honestly say it’s always been a joy to be part of Fairport.”

Next to Messrs Nicol and Pegg, the other band members are comparative newcomers. Violinist Ric Sanders joined in 1985, singer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Leslie in 1996 and drummer Gerry Conway in 1998. That means the current line-up has 12 years of musical rapport under its belt.

This year, Fairport passes another milestone – the band’s annual outdoor music festival at Cropredy has been running continuously for 30 years. Last year’s event was more successful than ever and attracted the first festival appearance by Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) for 37 years.

The Margate concert will feature a repertoire of songs and instrumentals from Fairport’s vast back catalogue opening with a set from Fairport’s guests Keith Donnelly and Flossie Malavialle. Keith, a long-standing friend of Fairport and a veteran of Cropredy, is a singer, guitarist and songwriter. He is also renowned for his banter – as Jasper Carrott says, Keith could make a sheep laugh.

French singer-songwriter Flossie Malavialle is well known on the British folk scene, not least for her recent performances with Show of Hands.

Fairport Convention’s concert at the Theatre Royal Margate starts at 7.30pm.

For tickets and booking information call 08451 301786. To learn more about Fairport Convention visit www.fairportconvention.com.