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This page contains information and links connected with folk music and dance in the south of England as viewed from Portsmouth. The exact area of coverage is based on the principle of "justifiable travelling distance".
This is the old version of this page retained for interest only. Information and links may be out of date.
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Listed in chronological order throughout the year. Approximate dates only. For full details see the Folk Roots festival guide. (Link below).
At Easter. Evolved out of the Gosport Easter Festival which was held at Thorngate Hall with not much going on outdoors. Now moved to Fareham, mostly based at the modern Ferneham Hall complex with some events at the Ashcroft Arts Centre. Mainly consists of concerts with some big names, and most events having admission charges. Ferneham Hall has a bar outside the concert hall with stalls featuring folk music and various crafts. A nice atmosphere with often a number of informal sessions taking place in the bar or around the music stalls. Some morris dancing outside. One of the first festival of the years to get you in the mood for the rest of the year!
A new folk festival, the first being in 2002. Early in May. Seems to be organized and sponsored by the town council. Some good concerts and a ceili, with big names and not too expensive. Most events take place in the Pavillion at the end of the sea front. Some musicians' sessions take place there too. At the first festival there were a few traders stalls in the foyer and some morris dancing outside and along the sea front.
www.weymouthfolkfestival.co.uk
Around the middle of May. Most happens on the Saturday
which makes an excellent day trip. Lots of events including a daytime acoustic
concert of folk music held in St. Lawrence's church. Morris dancing and a procession.
Previous years it has had contributions of early music and dance. The Saturday
night ceili is the best I know anywhere, located in the magnificent King Alfred's
Hall of the Guildhall building. A concert is held in the same building. Most
years a single ticket covers both the ceili and the concert and gives freedom
to move from one to the other.
Around the end of May. A major folk festival, long-established and
lasting longer than most, being held over the bank holiday. Pleasant riverside
venue. The festival has a strong emphasis on English folk music, rather than
Irish, Scottish or International, and in 2000 there were some excellent workshops
specialising in English instrumental music. There's a free outdoor ceili in
the town which is enjoyable. A good pub session in the Old Road Tavern which
is quite a long walk uphill from the town, set back from the road and hard to
find, but worthwhile.
The programme is expensive - £2.50 in 2000. Accomodation is a problem. The official camp site was open only to full ticket holders, and crowded as is common with festival camp sites. Alternative independent camp sites a long way away.
Link to Chippenham Folk Festival
Around the beginning of June. An excellent two day festival starting on the Friday evening and largely finishing at the end of Sunday afternoon. Traditionally Wimborne Festival has been characterised by its huge attendance of Morris dance sides with morris dancing everywhere you go, and a correspondingly large procession. Most of the town is closed to traffic which makes it a much more pleasant environment. Recently this has been a little spoilt by the presence of ice cream vans with their engines running.
Lots of live folk music in several pubs, largely outside in their beer gardens. In previous years tbe pub Dormers has been a big host with live music outside and a session indoors most of the time, but in 2003 Dormers was under new management and didn't do this. There are now two sessions at lunchtimes and evenings. The English music session is at the British Legion club, and there is an Irish session at the Conservative club. There are a number of workshops which are currently free.
There is a major concert and a Saturday night ceili both of which get some top names, the venue of the ceili being in a large school some way from the town. There is also a large marquee at the cricket ground featuring some of the best local bands and admission is either free or very low cost.
The picture shows Brian Bisp, the organiser of the festival's street dancing.
Click the icon for sound clip
www.wimbornefolkfestival.co.uk
Around the end of June. A Weekend event located at North Boarhunt Social Club, Trampers Lane, North Boarhunt, near Wickham, where Forest Folk Club meet. Simple camping is available at low cost on a sports field nearby.
The format is rather like a folk club, but taking place throughout the weekend. Separate events for singarounds and instrumental sessions taking place at different times.
There is a bar and food available.
As they have a web site, they can tell the rest.
Forest folk web site: www.forestfolk.co.uk
Unfortunately no longer taking place. It was around the end of June. Mainly consisting of an open air day of concerts in the grounds of the ruined palace. Very pleasant in good weather.
Around the first weekend of July. Pleasant open-air waterside setting. Enclosed arena with small admission charge. A variety of musical styles. Craft stalls etc. Session in a nearby pub.
www.christchurchfestival.co.uk
Around the beginning of July. Mainly a one-day event on a Saturday with live music and dance displays, but with some events on the Friday evening. It has evolved and expanded quite a lot over the last 5 years or so. Previously it mostly consisted of an open air concert from the back of a lorry in the town centre. That is still a major feature, but there are now many more events around the town, much of it acoustic in pleasant garden settings. Also many pubs now participate with live music and sessions. There is a wide variety of musical styles which are not exclusively folk ranging from classical and european instrumental dance music, through to the more powerful rock and blues. A little morris dancing. The ads and programme proudly boast that all events are free!
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Around the second half of July, school holiday time. Away from the town set in a large area of fields. Much of this is used for the spacious camp site and car park. The arena is entirely closed and, unless you buy a full day ticket or more, you can't get in, leaving absolutely nothing. No street dancing, no freedom to wander round trader's stalls, and no food or catering outside the arena. It is not possible to pay separately for individual events. I thought it was too expensive, too inflexible.
Around the second half of July. Another all-or-nothing festival. Held at a venue in Cherry Hinton. Apparently nothing going on in Cambridge itself. In 2001 it was fully sold out weeks before it began and this is probably typical every year.
Around the beginning of August. A whole week of folk festival!
N.B. 2005 - Sidmouth Folk Week
This year there is a festival called Sidmouth Folk Week Friday 29th July to Friday 5th August. See www.sidmouthfolkweek.co.uk
As I understand it the original Sidmouth Festival was temporarily cancelled for this year only. This event is replacing it in 2005 but may be followed by the return of the official Sidmouth Festival under new management in subsequent years.
The 50th festival took place in 2004. The management company Mrs Casey's Music have withdrawn. It is intended that there will be a festval in 2006 under different management, so things might be different.
A big part of Sidmouth Festival is the getting together of musicians and some independent events in pubs, notably in the Radway Inn, Anchor Inn and Bedford Hotel.
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for pictures
Usually follows immediately after Sidmouth. A long way to travel for some, but if you're already at Sidmouth, or going to the west country, it's well worth a visit. Held in the picturesque village of South Zeal it has a lovely rural atmosphere, slightly quaint and amateur, but no worse for that, and seemingly populated by really dedicated festival goers. There were some good dances and concerts, not too expensive. Everything is within walking distance so you can forget about driving for a day or two.
Most events take place in the large grassy festival arena equipped with a large marquee for music and dance, and another for traders. There is a small admission charge to the arena during the day on both Saturday and Sunday, but this gives access to many events throughout the day.
The Saturday night ceili is usually excellent featuring a top band and very reasonable admission charge. For example in 2001 it was the English Country Dance Band, and in 2003 Token Women.
Sunday afternoon is a mix of various acts punctuated by dances for the audience.
On Sunday evening there is a concert with shorter performances by most of the various acts present at the festival.
Some sessions in the two village pubs with the Kings Arms being the preferred one for instrumentalists. Some of these are organised sessions with an admission charge.
Official festival camping is only available to season ticket holders. The pub has a field available for camping, though facilities are meagre. There are independent camp sites in the area including one within walking distance.
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for pictures
Held at the end of August or beginning of September. The first was in 2001. Held on South Parade Pier with a good indoor stage area. The usual formula is to have a continual succession of live bands in the afternoons, mostly local, and all free. Some festval approved buskers around the pier. Evening concerts with top names have an admission charge. There is sometimes a pub session in the Florence nearby.
Around the beginning of September. It's great to go to Swanage any time and the festival has lots of free music and morris dancing. There's a large grassy arena on a hill right on the sea front with marquees and traders' stalls. The main event is a concert on Saturday night with a big name supported by mostly local performers. There's also a ceili and daytime workshops. Morris dancing mainly along the pedestrianised sea front road. Live music in a number of pubs most evenings. A good pub session is held on the Saturday night in the Crows Nest not far from the main arena on the main road from the sea front towards Studland direction. Song sessions and some small daytime instrumental sessions at the Red Lion in the town.
This is a really friendly and enjoyable festival. It seems to get better every year. It is becoming particularly good for workshops covering a number of musical instruments and dance styles.
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This is only a small list of local performers chosen mainly because they are enduring folk bands well known and liked by the author of this site.
Please E-mail me (see the main contents page) if you would like to be added to this list, or information amended in any way.
Performers are listed in approximate order of localness.
Based on the nucleus of guitarist/vocalist Paul Horton with lovely singer Sue Apicella, both accomplished performers in their own right. They have had a changing line-up over the years with notable previous members being Dave Jordan on upright string bass, bluesman Pete Robinson, and excellent fiddle player Francis Macnamara. A mix of Paul's light jazzy style and Sue's folk and blues singing. Now mostly playing "good time blues" with sometimes a hint of gospel. Portsmouth based.
Sound clip of Apicella from 2001
"Inspired by early skiffle, blues, ragtime and R & B". Portsmouth based.
"A lively mix of traditional and contemporary songs in a celtic style"
Guitar, Banjos, Bass, Bodhran, Mandolin, Melodeon, Fiddles, Percussion
Good large ceili band using traditional instruments.
Bursledon Village Band Web Site
"Woodsiders play a mixture of English, Irish, Scottish and American styles of music". Accordion, Acoustic Guitar, Bass and Percussion. Southampton based.
An excellent ceili band seen at Winchester Festival, 1998, at the Festival Ceili on Saturday night. They have the coolest fiddler you ever did see!
Changed their name to Black Sheep - See below.
Powerful ceili band performing instrumental dance music. This combination of instruments is perfect for such a band. They combine the fiddle and melodeon of a conventional ceili band with electric bass and drums more usual in a rock band. Dorset based and play distinctly English music preserving and furthering a tradition which has endured in Dorset for over 100 years, but brought up to date to be fast furious and highly entertaining.
The fiddle player is well known in the Poole and Wimborne area by his nickname Titch. One of the best fiddle players anywhere and with some great antics such as leaving the stage and performing stunts among the audience while still playing. Awesome. Either he or Bill Bond on melodeon are capable of taking the lead role alone with the bass and drums backing.
They have an excellent CD on sale at their gigs. Almost entirely traditional instrumental dance music played with high energy, and reasonably faithful to what they are like live, though the CD does have some guest musicians on. Very good value with a long playing time.
Click the icon for sound clip. Tune: Horses Branle recorded at the
Rising Sun, Wimborne Festival, June 2003.
"Spirited traditional music from Europe, Russia, America, The Gypsies and the Celtic fringe. Also good-time Cajun Dance Music."
Former members of Jerry's Beaver Hat with brilliant fiddle playing from Simon, backed by accordion from Lynn, with a new guitarist. Now based in Devon.
Phone Lynn & Simon on 01803 875176
SCoFF SCoFF, the Southern Counties Folk Federation. Links to Folk on Tap magazine and lots more.
Folk Association of South Hants Links to Solent Waves newsletter and folk club diary.
Dorset General tourist info with links to folk events.
Sussex Folk information, including folk clubs and regular weekly events.
Webfeet An excellent site for folk dance.
NEFFA International folk dance site classified by country.
Please see also the main contents page of this site for the major performers of English folk music, Morris, and a search facility for this site and for traditional tunes. Click the logo at the top of this page.
Web site owners, please put a link to this page. It is:
http://www.english-music.co.uk
This page is written and maintained by S. J. Farthing, Portsmouth, England. Conact details on main contents page.