The 20th Tenterden Folk Festival
Thursday 4th
to Sunday 7th October 2012
You may think that we have been very
quiet of late, but we have been busy making plans for a very special 20th
Tenterden Folk Festival that runs from Thursday 4th to
Sunday 7th October.
Public events start on Thursday evening with a special fundraising concert
in the Town Hall organised by Kathy and Bob Drage. The headline
guests will be the acclaimed Acoustic Strawbs and support acts include
Steve O'Kane and Fiona McBane. All profits will go towards the
festival and tickets are already selling fast.
Nearly 50 Morris sides and other folk dance display teams have already
signed up to attend the Festival this year including sides from Kent,
Sussex, Medway, London, Surrey, and Essex. Some are regular
visitors to Tenterden but there are also a number of sides paying their
first visit to the Festival. Additional colour is added by
international dancers including Appalachian and Slovakian. There is
still space for a few more teams to join the list so we are assured of
a record number of teams joining the displays.
We have made several improvements to the logistics of the Festival
including some changes to the procession at 3.00 p.m. on
Saturday. This year the dancers will gather in the High Street
between the War Memorial and Tenterden Gateway (Library) and process
along the High Street to Recreation Ground Road where they will proceed
down the road before turning on to the Recreation Ground. We are
also adding a new dance stage on the Recreation Ground which should be
available all day Saturday and Sunday. These changes will give
more people the chance to see the free dance displays and procession
and will also free up The Coach Park for public parking. The
Marquee on the Rec' will again be used for craft stalls, bar and food
outlets as well as the music Showcases which have proved so popular we
have guests lining up to get a slot.
All the town centre pub's will again be involved in the festival
including The White Lion, The William Caxton, The Vine and the recently
reopened Woolpack. We are also talking to a couple of local caf?
restaurants and expect that they will also be involved. All
the other usual venues will be in use including The Town Hall,
Tenterden Club, Church Hall and the Junior School. The vicar of
St Mildred's has even asked us to provide some a guest for the Harvest
Festival service on the Sunday.
Despite outside funding being harder than ever to obtain we still have
good support from both Ashford Borough Council and Tenterden Town
Council and other local organisations and businesses. Also the
festival has established an excellent reputation with performers and
these factors have meant that, despite the financial pressures, we have
put together a guest list that we extremely pleased with. This
includes a mixture of old friends of the festival and guests making
there first visit to the Festival. We also have some
excellent special events including a performance of "The Short Sharp
Shanties Show" and as far as I am aware Tenterden will be the only
Festival that is able to include the show on is programme this
year. More details of guests and special events is being posted
on our website at www.tenterdenfolkfestival.org.uk.
Full weekend tickets and camping passes are already on sale directly
from us, or from our usual outlets including Tenterden and Ashford
Gateways, Right Track Music and on line from We Got Tickets
at http://www.wegottickets.com/f/3909.
Single event tickets for events such as the Friday barn dance and a
variety of concerts will be on sale in due course. The free
souvenir programme and full details of all the events over the weekend
will be available in August.
One thing which is beyond our control is of course the weather, but do
you remember last year? Hot, sunny and dry with events moved out
of some of the pub bars into the grdens!
Guests, dance
sides and special events for 2012
Guests so far:
The Acoustic Strawbs (Thurday evening concert)
Brian Peters, Chris Sarjeant, The Climax Ceilidh Band with caller Nick
Walden, Graeme Knights, Jackie Oates (*SSS), Jeff Warner (USA),
Jim Causley and Richard Trethewey, Jody Kruskal (USA), The Keelers
(Jim Magean, Peter Wood, George Unthank & Alan
Fitztsimmons), Keith Kendrick and Sylvia Needham, Nic Dow, Pete
Castle, Rude Albert, Sara Grey (USA), Steve
Turner, Swinging The Lead (Peter Brooker, Brian Withstandley,
Stephen Skey, Joe Whittaker & Dave Webb), Tom and Barbara
Brown, Plus more to be confirmed
Marquee and
Showcase guests include:
Abbie Broom, Andy Smythe Band, Bedlam Boys, Captain Patch, Coco and
the Butterfields, Dennis Homes, Frankie the Gambler, Green Diesel,
Heather Knights, Highworth School Folk Band, The Jones Boys, Luke
Jackson, Na Mara, Nina Clark, Old Country Crows, Pierre Vincent, Sally
Ironmonger, Simon Stanley-Ward, Stuart Forester and a few more still to
confirm
And the hard
working regular guests who we cannot do this without including:
Adrian O, Bo Foaks, Bob Kenward, Chris Roche, John
Barden, John and Karen Sweeney, Malcolm Ward, The Marsh
Warblers, Peter Collins, Roger Resch, Spare Parts
Concertina Band, Steve O'Kane and Fiona McBain, Sue
Watson, Travelling Folk, Vic and Tina Smith and Vic Ellis's One
Man Band
Some of the above are still subject to contract. Not all guests are
there for the whole weekend. *SSS Short Sharp Shanties show only
~ see below
Dance sides and
display teams confirmed include:
Bacchus Border Morris, Bishop Gundulph Morris, Boughton Monchelsea
Morris, Bow n Bells, Chingford Morris Men, Dead Horse Morris, Doodle
Oak Clog Morris, East Kent morris Men, Gong Scourers Manic Morris,
Hands Around Morris, Hannah's Cats, Hunters Moon Morris, Invicta
Morris, Kent Korkers, Kits Koty Morris, Knockhundred
Shuttles, Loose Women, Mad Jacks Morris, Maenads, Marling Morris,
Men of Wight Morris, Minster Mayhems, Morena Slovak Dancer
Company, Offcumdums, Oojah Kappivvy, Pork Scratchings, Priory Morris,
Rampant Roosters Morris, Ravensbourne Morris, Royal Liberty Morris, St
Clements Clog, Tanglefoot Appalachian, Tonbridge Morris, USO Dancers,
Victory Morris, Wadard, Wantsum Morris, West Hill Morris, Wolfsheah and
Vixen, Woodchurch Morris Men, Wicked Belly Morris, Wicked Brood
Morris, Woodvale International Folk Dance Group
We have set a limit of 60 teams this year so please contact us as soon
as possible if your dance side, display team, etc. would like to an
invitation.
Special Events
include:
Short Sharp
Shanties Show A special show featuring the songs of
John Short, aka "Yankee Jack", of Watchet in Somerset who in 1914
gave the folk song collector Cecil Sharp nearly sixty
shanties including several rare versions. John spent
over fifty years working in sailing boats, much of his younger days
in deep water ships, sailing all around the world as a shantyman.
He was born in 1839; went to sea with his father when he was
nine and moved to the deep sea at eighteen, married and retired
from the deep water trade in his mid thirties and died in 1933.
Full details of the Short Sharp Shanties project can be
found on Tom and Barbara's web site.
Three CDs of new recordings of John Short's shanties are available
from Wild Goose Records.
The show features guests including Doug Bailey, Jackie Oates, Jeff
Warner, Keith Kendrick and Tom & Barbara Brown.
Other special
events include;
Exhibition to celebrate 20 years of Tenterden Folk Festival -
Easter to October 2012
The Acoustic Strawbs (Thurday evening concert)
Welcome barn dance with Climax Ceilidh Band ~ Friday evening
Music showcases in the marquee ~ Saturday and Sunday
Dance displays on the NEW dance stage ~ Saturday and Sunday
Sea Songs and Shanties session ~ Saturday
Plus concerts, folk club, sing-a-rounds, music sessions, workshops,
dance displays, procession, crafts and stalls, street stalls, music
stalls and much more.
Details of this year's festival can now be found at www.tenterdenfolkfestival.org.uk
Alan Castle
Festival Director
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