Andrew Cronshaw with Tigran Aleksanyan & Suntou Susso - Big World Festival

Big World Festival is a new, world music festival in Folkestone, running 1–4 October 2026

Programme at Kollectiv on Thursday 1st October is:

Doors Open: 6:30pm

7:30pm-8:30pm: Andrew Cronshaw (multi instrumentalist) with Tigran Aleksanyan (duduk)

Andrew Cronshaw’s main instruments are his spacious-sounding 74-stringed electrified zither, chiming 44-stringed marovantele (his own invention, a double-sided Finnish kantele/Malagasy marovany hybrid), the soft-toned brass-reeded Chinese ba-wu, and the rippling harmonics of a huge Slovak fujara whistle.

Tigran Aleksanyan is one of the world’s leading masters of Armenia’s exquisitely soft-toned reed instrument, the duduk, an instrument made famous on Hans Zimmer’s score for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. 

9:00pm-10:00pm: Suntou Susso 

Suntou Susso is a multi-instrumentalist - kora player, percussionist, singer and composer from The Gambia who is a 72nd generation Griot. His primary instrument, the kora is a harp-lute with 22 strings and is unique to the Griots of the Mandinka people.