IT's a bit of a shame, really, but folk music tends to get pretty short shrift these days in the media (excluding, er, specialist publications: And no, not THAT kind of specialist publication, you guttersnipes).

I can only conclude that this is the result of years of concentrated apartheid perpetrated by Yer Stereotypical Folk Music Fan... I'm not sure how many of them, if any, still exist, but I expect you know the ones I mean: Fair-isle cardigans, patterned trousers, real ale, children called Tarquin, Sage and Hummus, VW Beetles converted to run on rhubarb strainings and home-supplied methane, etc.

The last one I encountered was a chap who upbraided me about eight years ago for having the temerity to situate a microphone in front of my acoustic guitar. "Well, if I'd realised there was going to be ELECTRONICAL GIMMICKRY at this concert I'd have thought twice about paying my 25p admission fee," he growled, retreating to the sanctity of his coracle and leaving behind a miasma of authentic medieval diseases.

Well, it's time to wake up and smell your trousers, you stuffed shirts - the Weymouth Folk Festival 2002 (Weymouth Pavilion, Friday-Sunday, ticket information and booking on (01305) 785747 and (01305) 783225) is a cornucopia of contemporary folk talent which categorically proves that not only is there 'life in the old dog yet' but also that the old dog is still in possession of a full set of teeth which it would be only too delighted to sink into the puffy, purulent flesh of your enormous bottoms.

For those of you who still feel disinclined to unbutton the old cardigan too wantonly just yet, I should point out that roundly traditional fare is provided by Dorset's beloved Yetties (Saturday, 7.30pm, £6), who I find as delightfully baffling as no doubt any Dorset native would find Harry Lauder - the mighty Scottish accordion figurehead whose rousing, passionate, be-kilted performances were instrumental in forcing me to leave the country at considerable speed without even pausing to turn the gas off.

Squeeze-box fanatics, meanwhile, should be gingered up a proper treat at the news that John Kirkpatrick (Sunday, with Blue Horses, 1.30pm, £7.50) is breezing through town. John's been at the cutting, or indeed squeezing edge of the accordion since the late 1960s, as a member of Steeleye Span, The Albion Band, Brass Monkey and Band Of Hope as well as a solo artiste in his own right (and left).

John's old Steeleye Span compatriot Maddy Prior (Sunday, 7.30, £9.50) is also on hand to make many a folkster's heart beat faster with a generous selection of material which, ahem, spans her career from Steeleye days right up to this very minute. And this one.

There's shedloads of other stuff going on into the bargain, and there's even a 'folk village', open from 10am until late in the Pavilion complex on Saturday and Sunday, at which you can browse the numerous stalls and buy anything from melodeons to penny whistles to Nepalese notebooks to macram teeth (I may have made a bit of this up).

The Lonergan and myself wholeheartedly applaud the folk community of Weymouth for sticking something as ambitious as this together, and offer our fervent hope that the event is successful enough to engender many more like it in years to come...

Now, if you're looking for pedigree, chum, they don't come much more pure-bred than The Rhinomen (Finn M'Couls, Weymouth, Saturday), who between them have racked up quality time with - and I hope you're sitting down - Eric Clapton, Elton John, Queen, Phil Collins, Chris Rea, Whitesnake, Marillion, Toto, Paul Rodgers, Eddy Grant and ELO, to name Rather A Lot, Really.

The Rhinomen's proud boast is that they manfully combine 'the energy of rock with the feel of the blues' - it probably wouldn't be overstating the case to suggest that The Rhinomen will in fact 'give you the horn'. Ahem.

Finally, there's just room to alert slavering guitar and amp junkies to a Marshall workshop taking place in Harmony Music in Dorchester on Thursday, May 16 (two sessions, 7:30-8:30 and 8:45-9:30), hosted by the remarkable Guitarist magazine columnists Geoff Whitehorn, at which all you fretboard dementos can talk decibels, high-end gain, 6L6 valves and tone pots until the staff plead with you to STOP, STOP, FOR PITY'S SAKE and bundle you out of the shop with brooms made from old Fender Stratocasters, etc.

This is strictly a ticket-only affair - tickets are £5 (redeemable against goods), limited to 50 per session, and are available by dialling the shop on (01305) 260360.

Right, I'm off on my barely-earned holidays for the next two weeks: A Nation Rejoices, etc. In the interim, this page will be left in the incapable and tremulous hands of m'colleague Lonergan.

Be gentle with him, won't you, and make sure you keep him away from heavy machinery.