Sidmouth Festival
Encyclopedia
Sidmouth FolkWeek is a folk festival
held every year in the first week of August
in the coastal town of Sidmouth
in South West England
. It offers a range of activities including concerts, ceilidh
s, pub session
s, workshops, dance displays, and children's activities. The current patron is Martin Carthy
MBE
.
festival in 1955 by the English Folk Dance and Song Society
(EFDSS), but gradually expanded to cover ceilidh
dancing, music and song, as well as related folk crafts.
Over time, the scope also broadened to include performers from abroad, and the festival was renamed the Sidmouth International Folklore Festival..
In 1986, the management of the festival was taken over by Mrs Casey Music, who retitled it Sidmouth International Festival and ran it for 18 years, during which time the festival grew to over 65,000 visitors a year. In 1986, it become the birthplace of Shooting Roots, which provided a variety of workshops for young people and has played a key role in nurturing a network of young performers.
In 2004, the organisers Mrs Casey Music announced that they would no longer be running the festival due to funding issues, brought on in part by East Devon District Council withdrawing funding and in part by the 'rainy year' of 1997 which depleted much of the festival's financial reserves. For several months, the future of the festival appeared uncertain. Individuals and organisations began planning separate independent events for 2005, but by November 2004 a steering group had been set up to co-ordinate and publicise these events under the new name of Sidmouth Folk Week.
The 2005 event was smaller in scale, did not include the Arena Showground as on previous occasions, featured far fewer international performers and no season tickets were available. Nevertheless, it proved more popular than many had expected.
On 2005-11-07, Sidmouth FolkWeek Limited was registered as a charity with the object of promoting "... an annual festival of folk arts and other associated events."
The 2006 Sidmouth FolkWeek included Blue Murder, Seth Lakeman
and Roy Bailey
. The 2007 event featured concerts by Show of Hands
, Altan, Liz Ryder, The Spooky Men's Chorale
, Eliza Carthy
, Nancy Kerr
and Vin Garbutt
.
Folk festival
A Folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music.-Canada:Alberta*Calgary Folk Music Festival*Canmore Folk Music Festival*Edmonton Folk Music Festival*Jasper Folk Festival*Wild Mountain Music FestOntario*Barriefolk...
held every year in the first week of August
in the coastal town of Sidmouth
Sidmouth
Sidmouth is a small town on the English Channel coast in Devon, South West England. The town lies at the mouth of the River Sid in the East Devon district, south east of Exeter. It has a population of about 15,000, of whom 40% are over 65....
in South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
. It offers a range of activities including concerts, ceilidh
Céilidh
In modern usage, a céilidh or ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. It originated in Ireland, but is now common throughout the Irish and Scottish diasporas...
s, pub session
Pub session
A pub session refers to playing music and/or singing in the relaxed social setting of a local pub, in which the music-making is intermingled with the consumption of ale, stout, and beer and conversation...
s, workshops, dance displays, and children's activities. The current patron is Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
MBE
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
.
History
Sidmouth Festival was founded as a folk danceFolk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
festival in 1955 by the English Folk Dance and Song Society
English Folk Dance and Song Society
The English Folk Dance and Song Society was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dance Society. The EFDSS, a member-based organisation, was incorporated as a Company limited by guarantee in 1935 and became a Registered Charity The English Folk...
(EFDSS), but gradually expanded to cover ceilidh
Céilidh
In modern usage, a céilidh or ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. It originated in Ireland, but is now common throughout the Irish and Scottish diasporas...
dancing, music and song, as well as related folk crafts.
Over time, the scope also broadened to include performers from abroad, and the festival was renamed the Sidmouth International Folklore Festival..
In 1986, the management of the festival was taken over by Mrs Casey Music, who retitled it Sidmouth International Festival and ran it for 18 years, during which time the festival grew to over 65,000 visitors a year. In 1986, it become the birthplace of Shooting Roots, which provided a variety of workshops for young people and has played a key role in nurturing a network of young performers.
In 2004, the organisers Mrs Casey Music announced that they would no longer be running the festival due to funding issues, brought on in part by East Devon District Council withdrawing funding and in part by the 'rainy year' of 1997 which depleted much of the festival's financial reserves. For several months, the future of the festival appeared uncertain. Individuals and organisations began planning separate independent events for 2005, but by November 2004 a steering group had been set up to co-ordinate and publicise these events under the new name of Sidmouth Folk Week.
The 2005 event was smaller in scale, did not include the Arena Showground as on previous occasions, featured far fewer international performers and no season tickets were available. Nevertheless, it proved more popular than many had expected.
On 2005-11-07, Sidmouth FolkWeek Limited was registered as a charity with the object of promoting "... an annual festival of folk arts and other associated events."
The 2006 Sidmouth FolkWeek included Blue Murder, Seth Lakeman
Seth Lakeman
Seth Bernard Lakeman is an English folk singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, who is most often associated with the fiddle and tenor guitar, but has also mastered the viola and banjo...
and Roy Bailey
Roy Bailey
Roy Bailey may refer to:*Roy Bailey , Canadian Progressive Conservative politician from Saskatchewan*Roy Bailey , British socialist folk singer...
. The 2007 event featured concerts by Show of Hands
Show of Hands
Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots and folk duo comprising singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer. In recent years they have been accompanied on tour and in the studio by jazz double-bassist Miranda Sykes.-Origins:...
, Altan, Liz Ryder, The Spooky Men's Chorale
The Spooky Men's Chorale
The Spooky Men's Chorale are a group of Australian male singers. Most reside in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, but some are from Western Australia. Their repertoire consists largely of songs either written or arranged by their director Stephen Taberner, on topics ranging from power...
, Eliza Carthy
Eliza Carthy
Eliza Carthy is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.-Life and career:...
, Nancy Kerr
Nancy Kerr
Nancy Kerr is an English folk musician, specialising in the fiddle and singing. She is the daughter of London-born singer-songwriter Sandra Kerr and Northumbrian piper Ron Elliott....
and Vin Garbutt
Vin Garbutt
Vin Garbutt , though second generation Irish, is an English folk singer and songwriter...
.
External links
- Official website
- MySpace site
- Wozniak, Stephen J. "Sidmouth Folk Festival" www.SeeRed.co.uk