The queues started forming early for the fourth Oxford Folk Festival, a sure sign that the weekend's event had truly made its mark in the city and beyond. Some had travelled from different corners of the country to see Friday's headlining act at the Town Hall, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, a band which has inspired a cult following.

Owing more to the likes of the Temperance Seven than George Formby, they will tell you they derive their inspiration more from Marilyn Monroe - yes, that masterly performance in Some Like it Hot! Indeed, they play the self same tune in their own inimitable deadpan style. But they don't limit themselves to the canon of the four-stringed instrument, they hammer into Hawkwind's Silver Machine, or even Anarchy in the UK with all the abandonement of Sid Vicious. Well, maybe not quite that far.

But they are formidable musicians and their harmonies are spot on. But what, you may ask, has this to do with folk music? Well the orchestra answered that with their own dedication to Cecil Sharp, the folk song collector, with a version of Isaac Hayes's Shaft - Who is the man that would risk his neck for his brother man? Sharp! Their finale was a musical tour de force - six different songs sung simultaneously to a Handel motif. And if that sounds like chaos, then the standing ovation they received at the end proved it was entirely ordered - and sublime.

Just how could anyone follow that? Well, quite simple really, you have one of the best live acts anywhere - Salsa Celtica. So contagious is the mix of Latin and Celtic music that within minutes half the audience were on their feet. The excitement of the ten-piece band's latest album El Camino quickly transmitted itself. They switched effortlessly from the Pa'l Rumberos, sung by the irrepressible Venezuelan Lino Rocha, to the Irish An Cailleach, led by banjo player Eamonn Coyne. Even Eliza Carthy, appearing at the festival, joined them on stage. Just like the crowd, she could have danced all night.

These two headliners did not, indeed could not, overshadow the purely traditional. Eliza joined her band the Ratcatchers for top of the bill on the final day, with Oxford's very own duo John Spiers and Jon Boden, alongside. Many acts struggled with the poor acoustics of the Town Hall, but not the Ratcatchers as they pleased many of their fans with Worcester City, Willow Tree and The Man Who Puffs the Big Cigar - adding a fine version of a Watersons' favourite, The Good Old Ways.

Stalwarts of the folk scene, John Renbourn and Robin Williamson, delighted a Sunday afternoon crowd - and Oxfordshire's young protége Wilmer watching his idol Renbourn - with a mix of British and American folk song, while the ever popular John Kirkpatrick gave a masterclass in squeezebox playing. New band Fribo showed they will be a force to be reckoned with in years to come.

Fernhill, too, deserve a special mention as one of the great voices of folk, Julie Murphy, dedicated their fine set to the festival director, Tim Healey.

Finally, away from the main stage, a group of musicians, aged from nine to 12, showed that the future of the music is in very safe hands. Assembled under the inspiring direction of Luke Daniels, Gael Academy, brought together from Berkshire schools, played with an assuredness and maturity way beyond their years. If only Oxfordshire schools would follow suit.