Towersey Village Festival
Encyclopedia
Towersey Village Festival is an annual festival of folk
and world music
and traditional dance held in the village
of Towersey
in Oxfordshire
, England
. It has taken place every August bank holiday
weekend since its founding in 1965.
The festival attracts approximately 10,000 people each year although the 2004 event (August 26 to August 30) attracted much higher numbers than ever before. This is partly due to that year being the festival's 40th anniversary.
The venues in which the festival normally takes place are the concert tent, the dance tent, the arena, the village hall
and the arts centre with occasional impromptu performances in the beer tent (normally called "The Headless Horseman") and in the Three Horseshoes public house
. Other features include the main site, the craft tent and the craft market.
Regular performers at Towersey include Roy Bailey
and Les Barker
. The latter made a live recording there in 1995. Eliza Carthy
, John Spiers and Jon Boden
had successful performances there in their early careers.
Due to the high numbers attending in 2004 the organisers were forced to open up a third campsite for the first time ever. Its popularity may be because although it is aimed at all ages it is mainly a family event with facilities and shows for children being held throughout the weekend. Many people return to Towersey each year for the festival.
There is an old tradition that on the last night of the festival a lot of the men dress up as women. The tradition of 'dress up Sunday' started in 1990 with a hen party for a Towersey regular. Due to the lack of female friends attending, the bride agreed that men could come if they dressed appropriately. This led to at least 15 men in skirts and dresses, can-canning across the pub car park on the Sunday evening.
The following year, the bride and groom held a Sunday afternoon cocktail party where guests had been asked to wear their wedding outfits. This was followed by the usual Sunday evening session in the Barn. This was repeated in following years and evolved into 'Dress Up Sunday'. Cross dressing is not obligatory but can add to the fun.
The bride still attends the festival regularly as a steward.
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
and traditional dance held in the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Towersey
Towersey
Towersey is a village and civil parish about east of Thame in Oxfordshire. The village was part of Buckinghamshire for most of its history, but the boundary was moved in 1933 when Towersey was swapped for Kingsey.-History:...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It has taken place every August bank holiday
Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
weekend since its founding in 1965.
The festival attracts approximately 10,000 people each year although the 2004 event (August 26 to August 30) attracted much higher numbers than ever before. This is partly due to that year being the festival's 40th anniversary.
The venues in which the festival normally takes place are the concert tent, the dance tent, the arena, the village hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
and the arts centre with occasional impromptu performances in the beer tent (normally called "The Headless Horseman") and in the Three Horseshoes public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
. Other features include the main site, the craft tent and the craft market.
Regular performers at Towersey include Roy Bailey
Roy Bailey (folk singer)
Roy Bailey MBE , is a British socialist folk singer. Roy began his singing career in a skiffle group in 1958.Colin Irwin from the music magazine Mojo said Bailey represents "the very soul of folk's working class ideals.....
and Les Barker
Les Barker
Les Barker is an English poet. He is best known for his comedic poetry and parodies of popular songs, however he has also produced some very serious thought-provoking written work....
. The latter made a live recording there in 1995. 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:...
, John Spiers and Jon Boden
Spiers and Boden
Spiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box.-Biography:...
had successful performances there in their early careers.
Due to the high numbers attending in 2004 the organisers were forced to open up a third campsite for the first time ever. Its popularity may be because although it is aimed at all ages it is mainly a family event with facilities and shows for children being held throughout the weekend. Many people return to Towersey each year for the festival.
There is an old tradition that on the last night of the festival a lot of the men dress up as women. The tradition of 'dress up Sunday' started in 1990 with a hen party for a Towersey regular. Due to the lack of female friends attending, the bride agreed that men could come if they dressed appropriately. This led to at least 15 men in skirts and dresses, can-canning across the pub car park on the Sunday evening.
The following year, the bride and groom held a Sunday afternoon cocktail party where guests had been asked to wear their wedding outfits. This was followed by the usual Sunday evening session in the Barn. This was repeated in following years and evolved into 'Dress Up Sunday'. Cross dressing is not obligatory but can add to the fun.
The bride still attends the festival regularly as a steward.
External links
- Towersey Village Festival
- Mrs Casey Music - organisers of the festival