After the great success of Sankofa's debut last year, it is set to return as an even bigger yurt (the biggest in Europe in fact!) deeply immersed in the roots and new shoots of acoustic folk, African, Indian, jazz, classical music and beyond.

Here are a few acts that lined up to grace the yurt in 2011:

• Willy Mason
• Beth Rowley
• Kadialy Kouyate
• Tyde
• Nick Harper
  

Last year saw some stunning performances from the likes of songwriters Nuala Honan, Tom Bellamy and Sarah Joy.  It also hosted special solo or stripped down performances from artists playing elsewhere on site- most notably Martha Tilston and Dizraeli.  A stunning performance from some of the brightest upcoming folk musicians, the Urban Folk Quartet and a mesmerising perfomance by Senaglese Master Kora Player, Kadialy Kouyate really provided the cherry on the top of this beautiful venue.

Kadialy also participated in the magical African Jam which was a session involving Jahman Sillah on Djembe and Chartwell Dutiro on Mbira.  Although it was called the African Jam, Tabla Master Pritham Singh also joined them on stage for what was a truly captivating performance.

This year's Sankofa line up is looking really exciting with some of the finest songwriters from the UK and one from the States, some beautiful blues, world class African Jam and, for the first time at Shambala, a Chinese Classical trio. 

Sankofa is an ancient symbol of the Akan people from Ghana which teaches us to look to the past for guidance and inspiration and the music in this beautiful venue reflects this.