16274/4GAZETTE & HERALD: Chippenham Folk Festival 2005 was a stunning success. Bathed in an untraditional amount of blazing sunshine, enjoying sell-out evening concerts and attracting thousands of people to the town, it was possibly the best folk festival in years.
A carefully assembled programme of classic folk favourites as well as up and coming stars guaranteed there was something to appeal to everyone with even the slightest interest in folk music.
Drama, dance, music and the spicing of comedy created a lively weekend crowded with concerts, workshops, pub sessions and open air displays. And the High Street Market on Bank Holiday Monday drew such enormous crowds it was hard to make your way from one end of town to the other.
On both Saturday and Sunday the concerts in the Olympiad's studio hall were filled to capacity, and fans were obliged to queue outside to wait for an opportunity to listen to some of the top billing artists. Headline acts included Roy Bailey and the Doonan Family Band. On Saturday night young duo John Spiers and John Boden were firm favourites with the audience, playing fiddle and accordion. The following night The English Acoustic Collective impressed with their highly accomplished renditions of folk favourites such as John Barleycorn.
On Sunday, Dorset ensemble Time and Tide performed Salt Upon the Shore at the Cause. A mixed media production, the group used song, verse and projected images of the sea to tell the story of Dorset people's long relationship with the ocean, the wrecks and adventures, and battles and losses.
Every night the Olympiad's sports hall was crowded with revellers enjoying a dance or two at the regular ceilidhs. Even the most sceptical would be hard pressed not to get caught up in the enthusiasm and general atmosphere of enjoyment of the lively event.
And of course the town was positively crawling with morris dancers. From morning till night all three days, it was hard to walk about the town without spotting the variously feathered, belled, hatted or face-painted tribes of folk dancers either performing, meandering to their next gig or refreshing themselves at a local watering hole inbetween shows.
With around 70 dance teams in the town the full gamut of folk dancing was represented from the traditional white-garbed hanky wavers, to the more sinister-looking sides with blacked-up faces.
The Dogrose morris side proved a particular hit. All the members of this side were young men and they danced with particular energy and enthusiasm showing how this traditional form of dance could be a display of masculine swagger and rowdiness rather than something twee and genteel.
With high leaps, a thwacking of sticks that left broken splinters of wood all over the street, the Dogrose morris received huge applause. One dance, which involved members whacking each other over the head very hard with tin trays, provoked hoots of laughter.
And anyone with preconceptions of what morris dancers might be like should see the Kentish Wolfshead and Vixen side. Half a dozen girls dressed in Gothic black velvet, black stockings and shades, accompanied by serious looking gentlemen in black wearing top hats, danced to accordion and violin played only in a minor key.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article