For over ten years now the Folk and Blues Festival held at the Guilford Arms has been sponsored by the Caledonian Brewery, and runs for ten nights with quality music. Another common denominator of this integral part of the Fringe is that these evenings are run by local folk band Yard of Ale. Yard of Ale consist of Alistair McDougald, Peter Gillan and Colin McKenzie, well versed in the art of entertaining all ages with their eclectic mix of traditional Scottish and Irish folk music together with the odd American number, country songs and ‘Sassenach’ numbers from the likes of Lindisfarne and Ralph McTell, all linked with their own style of humour, thrown in for good measure. Each night there is a special guest and the night we attended there was the blues virtuoso Michael Wellands, fresh from a set at the  Glastonbury Festival, who royally entertained the packed pub with his undoubted skills on guitar, harmonica and vocals. A final set by Yard of Ale brought the festival to a conclusion, all too soon for most people that evening. The Guilford Arms is always a busy pub serving good food and quality beer, so when there is a free, yes I did say free, gig of this standard on offer too, then it is no wonder that it can sometimes get a little claustrophobic, but it is certainly worth the suffering. So here’s to next year lads, look forward to seeing you again then. ****