SaltaireLive is partying this Sunday to celebrate ten years of bringing many of the biggest names in folk to the stage.

The special show will see one of SaltaireLive’s best-loved bands, Dervish, flying in from Ireland, while singer songwriter Steve Knightley from the ever-popular Show Of Hands will be travelling up from Devon.

The man behind it all, Simon Heginbotham, says to expect some Scots up on stage, too, as Saltaire’s Victoria Hall has played host to many top acts from the Scottish folk scene over the past decade.

“If you’re going to have a 10th celebration party, there’s no better person to have in charge than Dervish’s entrancing singer Cathy Jordan,” says Simon, who describes the band, showcasing their new album Thrush In The Storm, as “encapsulating authentic Irish traditional music at its very best”.

And Steve Knightley will play an opening solo set, before joining Dervish onstage to reprise his roof-raising performance with them at Shrewsbury Folk Festival back in 2010.

Over the last ten years, SaltaireLive has played host to many folk giants from across the British Isles – including Bellowhead, Kate Rusby, Kathryn Tickell, Fairport Convention, Altan, Seth Lakeman, Salsa Celtica and Blazin’ Fiddles.

“What started as an attempt to bring some of the bigger names in folk music to Bradford, rather than having to travel far and wide to see them, has developed into an ongoing series of shows and a regular stopping point on the tours of major folk artists,” says Simon, who puts SaltaireLive’s success down to the audiences.

“Bringing top professional musicians to a venue isn’t cheap, but the SaltaireLive audience have consistently turned out, buying tickets and giving the bands a warm and enthusiastic response time after time – great musicians playing to great music-lovers,” he adds.

SaltaireLive’s celebration is part of this year’s Saltaire Festival running from Saturday to September to 22. About 40,000 people are expected to flock to the World Heritage Site to enjoy the varied programme of music, arts, exhibitions, markets and family fun.

Copies of the programme – which includes details on the Aagrah Food Festival, Open Gardens, poets John Hegley and Ian McMillan and top comedy from the Edinburgh Fringe – are available from local shops, businesses, visitor information centres and Aagrah’s chain of restaurants, as well as online.

Supergroup Kan will also be providing music for the festival, appearing at Saltaire’s Live Room at Caroline Club on Friday, September 20 at 8pm. The band is a union of four of the finest, most influential, award-winning artists of the 21st century, including one member of Lau and one member of Flook, delivering traditional world music. Tickets are available from theliveroom.info.

Tickets for SaltaireLive’s 10th Anniversary Show, starting at 7.45pm this Sunday, are available by ringing (01274) 588614, going online to jumborecords.co.uk or at Fanny’s Alehouse in Saltaire. For more about other shows coming up, check out saltairelive.co.uk.