Children’s and Youth’s Projects

We’re just putting the finishing touches to our programming for our younger audience – here are some of the details in advance of the official announcement.

Shrewsbury Folk Festival Schools Project
We’re going to spend a week in late June in a local primary school with members of 422 and Sunshine Arts.
422 will be providing instrumental, vocal and dance workshops to all classes – the details will be finalised on Monday but there will be a band performance, ceilidhs and clog dancing, a chance for pupils to play various instruments, a final group ceilidh, and for some of the older group an introduction to rapper sword dancing.
Sunshine Arts will work with the older pupils on a Mum & Tuk’ play which fuses traditional Caribbean Tuk dance and English Mummers plays; there are also opportunities for Caribbean clapping games and percussion workshops. This is an exciting and significant project which we’ll formally announce next week, with full details of the school and a timetable of events.

Youth’s workshops
'The Big Shed' (see post below) will host some superb workshops for youths, amongst those that we’ve already scheduled are a Longsword Dance workshop with Sue Coe and Ryburn Longsword, a Samba percussion workshop with Sam Pirt, and vocal harmony workshops with Matt Price and Stream of Sound

Family Ceilidh
On Sunday afternoon the dance tent will host a family ceilidh with 422.

We’ll officially announce full details of these next week on both the website and blog – thoughts and ideas are very welcome, please feel free to leave a comment on the blog, we read them all!

Youth programme ‘The Big Shed’

Our move to the West Midlands Showground means that we have more room and more opportunities for distinct programming; as a result of this we’re giving young people ‘The Big Shed’, a venue aimed at those aged from 12-25.

‘The Big Shed’ will have workshops from many of the artists performing at the festival – for example there will be individual workshops in songwriting, vocal harmony, melodeon, percussion and Longsword.

There will also be an ‘improvers’ instrumental workshop, aimed at those looking to gain confidence in playing in sessions.

After dark ‘The Big Shed’ will become a dance house or chill out zone exclusively for young people with a folk-DJ mixing both tunes and songs.

Line-up amendments

Sadly, due to unforeseen circumstances we’ve had to make a couple of small alterations to the line-up.

Patrick Street were due to play on Monday afternoon, but are sadly unable to make the festival – we’re currently looking at filling the slot and expect to announce an excellent new act over the next few days.

Bob Harris was scheduled to MC for a few hours on Sunday night but is now unable to be with us on that evening.

We’re all really disappointed that neither Patrick Street nor Bob will be at the 2007 festival, but they will obviously be on our lists for booking in 2008. Please accept our apologies for any disappointment.

We’ll announce new bookings on the blog and festival website as soon as we have them confirmed.

2007 Posters

Ltd Edition, numbered Hatch Show Print Posters

Formed in 1879, Hatch Show Print is one of the oldest letter press printers in America; based in Nashville they have a uniquely identifiable art style, and an unrivalled history in producing posters for country music’s biggest names as well as many multi-national and local companies.

The posters are all hand produced using letters and imagery from their own library – many of the letters, logos and images have been used repeatedly over many decades.

Using the same printing techniques over many years has kept an authentic turn of the century feel to their work – every machine is hand operated and every single poster hand made. No corners are cut and the results are stunning pieces of poster art.

Our posters are printed on uncoated 80lb cover, cream coloured with flecks that look like recycled paper – it’s perfect for framing.

We opted for a three colour design, which means each poster has been individually passed through a press three times (once for each colour); it’s a precise and time consuming process but the results are stunning and distinct from any other printing process (click the image for a much more detailed view).

As each poster is hand made, there are slight differences to every single poster – we had a limited print run of 200 posters and each one is individually numbered.

Dimensions (W x H)32.5cm x 58cm (12.8” x 22.8”)

We’re selling the posters prior to the festival as this will enable to you keep them in the best possible condition (rather than trying to keep one for 4 days over the festival weekend!). If there are any remaining posters then these will be available at the festival merchandise stall.

All orders will be shipped in strong postal tubes to keep the posters in perfect condition.

For more details or to purchase a poster, please visit Fish Records

Steward’s Party

Saturday April 14th was our steward’s party where all the stewards and those who hosted artists for the 2006 festival were invited to the main bar at the West Mid Showground – it’s a chance for us to say thanks to all those who help out and it’s a great way to meet up with friends both old and new.

Around 200 people from all over the country attended, with the vast majority arriving with tents, motorhomes or caravans and stopping overnight on-site (taking advantage of the superb weather!).

Thanks to all who made the effort, it was a great night with superb company and excellent food and drink; and it got our stay at the West Mid Showground off to a flying start! Thank you.

If you would like to steward at the festival there are full details on our website, if you're interested in hosting an artist then please contact us.

Planning the new site

Although we have already drawn up plans for how we intend to layout the main areas of the festival site (marquees, caterers, parking etc), we spent some time on the new festival site over the weekend looking at how to best utilise aspects of the Showground.


The picture above shows the showground and there are a good number of permanent buildings that we can use (just above the GRO of showground on the photo)– we’ll certainly use some as venues for sessions, workshops and ‘meet the artists’; we’re also currently considering a ‘youths only’ room, perhaps for workshops in the day and a chill out area for nights.

Much of this will fall into place as the festival draws nearer, but having so many buildings on site really opens up some exciting opportunities for us!

Early Bird Offer coming to an end....

The end of March means the end of our Early Bird ticket offer, which means 31st March is the last day we will sell tickets at the lowest price.

At present they’re £60 for an adult 4 day season ticket, and £30 for youths (age 11-17) but ticket prices rise on April 1st. There are full details on the festival website.

Last year the festival sold out; ticket sales are much stronger this year and we will definitely sell out again – it’s difficult to gauge exactly when we will sell out, but please don't leave it too late!

T-Shirts

Over the past few weeks we've been looking at the quality and range of shirts that we’ll offer at this year’s festival.

Although the designs are still to be finalised, we’ve joined forces with a Fairtrade manufacturer who are supplying a very high quality shirt made from 100% organic Fairtrade certified cotton and manufactured under ethical conditions that meet International Labour Organisation rules.

All t-shirts will be screen printed with high quality inks on both front and back, and there will be a range of designs available across at least 3 different colour choices.

After many comments last year we’re offering a choice of styles, with fitted ladies and children’s shirts available in addition to the standard fit t-shirt.

If you have any comments or have ideas as to what else we could/should have at the festival’s merchandise stall, please feel free to leave a comment on the blog or send an email!

Who’s on When?

Although we’ve not announced these dates officially on the main website yet, here are the edited highlights of who is on when……

Friday 24th
Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies, Peatbog Faeries, Lisa Knapp, Les Barker, Pete Coe, Rod Picott

Saturday 25th
Show of Hands, Salsa Celtica, The Wailin’ Jennys, Chris Wood, Idiot & Friend (Keith Donnelly & Les Barker), Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies (again!)

Sunday 26th
Bellowhead, Kate Rusby, Richard Shindell, Kathryn Tickell, Megson, Acoustic Strawbs, Kerfuffle, Marquee One MC Bob Harris

Monday 27th
Paul Brady, Crooked Still, Steve Tilston, The Wilsons, 422, Cockersdale, Keith Donnelly

New Marquees

All our venues will have a considerable increase in capacity over 2006, but we are keeping visitor numbers to a similar level as last year, making for a more comfortable festival for all.

We have a new main marquee (pictured) with a size increase from 1,700 seats to 2,200. Our second marquee will increase from 600 seats to 1,000 and the dance marquee will double in size.


Both concert marquees will be fully seated and the seating will go to the back of the venue.
For those who enjoy watching from outside the marquees we will take up some of the perimeter sides (weather permitting).

February Newsletter

Our February newsletter was sent out over the last few days, all those on our postal mailing list should be receiving their copies shortly.

If you’re not on our mailing list and would like a copy please visit our main website (here) to contact us and request a copy or sign up to our email newsletter.

Ticket prices are listed in the newsletter as well as being detailed on our website – we’re currently in the ‘early bird’ pricing band until April 1st, so tickets are at their lowest pricing level until this date!

THE DANCING FESTIVAL

SHREWSBURY FOLK FESTIVAL
the Dancing Festival

If music connects directly with our emotions then dance must be the natural response which allows us to demonstrate what we are feeling. Dancing is inevitable when humans hear music; the joy of physically reacting to music is primeval. That movement to music is common in every culture, a language which is universal. This has developed strong traditions throughout the world and none more so than English folk music and that of its Celtic neighbours.

The Shrewsbury folk festival organisers now have a site big enough to put more concentration on developing both social and ritual dance. We wish to provide opportunities for both the experienced and beginners to dance under the best possible circumstances.

As part of that development a much larger dance marquee will be in evidence at the 2007 festival. The dance floor will be three times the size of its 2006 predecessor, at a little over 500 sq metres, and the area around the dance floor will be carpeted to help remove moisture from shoes, making the dance floor less slippery.

The programme is not yet available but there will be evening ceilidhs each night and lunch time ceilidhs Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There will be a family ceilidh and several opportunities to learn and perform European dances.

Ceilidh Bands

STEAMCHICKEN caller Fee Lock
ALL BLACKED UP caller Baz Parkes
TOKEN WOMEN
ENGLISH REBELLION caller Pete Coe
CYSER
THIS WAY UP caller Sheila Mainwaring
422 family ceilidh
All ceilidhs will have dance displays.

Dance Displays
On Site -
The new dance boards will be used again under the canopy we used last year. (see right)


Off site -
Our dance teams will also be dancing at various places in Shrewsbury town centre.

Dance Teams

Eynsham Morris
Hobos Morris
Ouse Washes Molly
Ironmen and Severn Gilders
Ryburn 3 Step
Dan Eccles and Jake Jones
Stroud School of Samba
Golden Star Morris
Stroud Morris Dancers
One Step Beyond
Kickin’ Alice
Mortimers Morris

The Line Up Is Growing

The Line Up for the 2007 Shrewsbury Folk Festival is expanding by the day. Recent notables include Crooked Still (USA) and the Wailin’ Jennys (Canada) but there are many more, please see list below.

PAUL BRADY
KATE RUSBY
SALSA CELTICA
SHOW OF HANDS
BELLOWHEAD
PEATBOG FAERIES
KATHRYN TICKELL
STEVE TILSTON
CROOKED STILL (pictured right)
WAILIN’ JENNYS
RICHARD SHINDELL
ACOUSTIC STRAWBS
PETE COE
THE WILSONS
LES BARKER
CHRIS WOOD
KEITH DONNELLY
KIMBER’S MEN
KERFUFFLE
ROD PICOTT
CRUCIBLE
IDIOT & FRIEND
ROLAND CHADWICK
COCKERSDALE
MARY HUMPHREYS & ANAHATA
LOCTUP TOGETHER
JIM MOLYNEUX (2006 OPEN MIC WINNER)

Dance Bands include:-

ALL BLACKED UP
STEAMCHICKEN
ENGLISH REBELLION
CYSER (European dance)
TOKEN WOMEN
THIS WAY UP
422

Richard Shindell

When planning the line-up for the 2007 festival, Richard Shindell was one of the names at the top of our list. He's one of the finest singer/songwriters and guitar players around, but also a very rare visitor to the UK (the last time was as support for Joan Baez around 10 years ago), and we were unsure whether he would be able to fit a UK visit into his diary (although American, he lives in Argentina and his US tour schedule take up much of his available time).

After a month or so of negotiation and discussions we were thrilled to get Richard for our festival, it's a real coup and he will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the whole weekend


If you don't know his work, check out some samples on the web, he's a superb writer and a massive talent.

Festival preparations & initial line-up

Preparations for the 2007 Shrewsbury Folk Festival are now in full swing. Tickets will go on sale on the 1st December. Details on acts booked so far are now available on the festival web site, but just to whet your appetite they include:-

PAUL BRADY
KATE RUSBY
SALSA CELTICA
SHOW OF HANDS
BELLOWHEAD
PEATBOG FAERIES
KATHRYN TICKELL
STEVE TILSTON
RICHARD SHINDELL
ACOUSTIC STRAWBS
ROD PICOTT
CHRIS WOOD
LES BARKER
PETE COE
ROLAND CHADWICK
COCKERSDALE
MARY HUMPHREYS & ANAHATA

Loads more to come. Keep an eye on the web site for further details.