WHISTLESTOP are a York-based ceilidh band with years of experience in folk music and dance. With a wide repertoire, we can provide a great evening of dancing and - most importantly - fun, tailored to suit your event: from a primary school family dance to a 70th birthday party; from a small(ish) pub function room to a large sports hall. We bring the musicians, a PA system and a caller to teach everyone the dances and to lead them.

We like to keep things interesting, so our performances will include some or all of: accordion, bagpipes, bass guitar, cajon, cigar box guitar, fiddle, guitar, hurdy-gurdy, mandolin, pipe and tabor, recorder and (of course) whistle.

Ceilidh dancing is great fun for all ages. You need to be in reasonable health, but you don't need to be a skilled dancer - we'll teach you each dance in a few minutes and off we go!

When you're planning your event with us, we can adapt the programme to suit the skill and energy levels of dancers, making sure that as many people as possible can participate.

We're based in York but will normally travel up to an hour or so from there, giving us a pretty wide area we can cover. If you're not sure, contact us and tell us where you are.

We've played in marquees, halls big and small, even in a cow shed! As long as we're dry, have enough room for dancers and an electricity supply, we're generally OK.

Costs vary according to the length of set and the distance to be travelled, but while we can't give an exact price per gig here, we can assure you that we are competitively priced. We do this because we love doing it.

Go to the Contact page to send us a message and start the conversation about planning a ceilidh to suit your event.