Dec 09

Ely Folk Festival (in pictures)

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Could take up a lot of space describing the event, but they say pictures speak louder than words, so….

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Beer!  Good real ale at this festival…          Home sweet home

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The kitchen                                                     The neighbourhood

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The Oyster Morris

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Ely & Littleport Riot?                                                                                                                      

(open to correction!)                                                                                                                     

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Green Dragon Morris

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French dancing workshop

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 ”Childrens” maypole workshop        Stephen the maypole anchor      

 (yes I did have a go!!)                      (where did the bells come fro!m?)

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Home-made burgers for tea             Cotswold Morris workshop

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                                                                Rockingham Rapper

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Sword dance                                               Quicksilver (Grant from “Thats Life”)

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                                                                 Adrian Nation

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Eric Bogle & John Munro

I seem to be missing a lot of photos, I think the battery on the camera didn’t last the weekend, which was a shame.

Highlights of the weekend….

Beer!  An excellent small real ale bar with a good variety of beers and ciders for us to sample.

Bands - favourites were Something Nasty in the Woodshed (folk rock), Flossie Malavialle (a geordie french lass!), Peatbog Fairies (so much energy), Eric Bogle & John Munro (witty), Adrian Nation and the last act of the weekend, Tanglefoot - actually their last British gig before quiting the business, and included an amazing acapella version of one of their songs performed off the stage at audience level.

Ceilidhs - two this year!  And this year I actually made it to the border morris workshop run by the Witchmen, so plenty of dancing going on.

Ely - its a great place to hold a festival - the field is good, there is a shuttle bus into the city, but its not too far away anyway, and the city is a great setting for the various morris sides to dance in on the Saturday - also it has good pubs, and cafes, and an interesting farmers market.

Roll on next year!

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Aug 14

Ely Folk Festival 2008 - Video

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This is the result of all the video footage I shot over the weekend of the Ely Folk Festival - there was quite a lot of it, so I’ve had to shave it all down a bit!  I bought some new SD cards for my camera in Ely (2 x 2GB for £18.50 - bargain!), but ended up running short of battery life instead, so Sunday night is missing.

I initially thought that I wouldn’t be that keen on a whole weekend of “folky” music, but was proven wrong in that not all the music was what I had perceived as traditional folk music.  The sound quality isn’t great on some of the clips, for one of them I was almost sitting directly under the speaker and it seems to have come out the quietest of the lot - so apologies for that.

On the whole the quality of the music was excellent, and the variety of bands was good - a couple that didn’t appear in the video were an African dance band, and a young welsh guy with amazing guitar skills and a sense of humour to match - its not always just about the music.  The last act of the weekend were also excellent musicians but again it was their dry sense of humour that made it enjoyable for me, and also being the last night people were going a bit mad in the marquee and we did end up dancing manically in the side aisles!  Because there was music in three marquees, plus a couple of pubs in the city, there was a lot I missed, and trying to squeeze all I did video into 10 mins for you tube purposes was a nightmare!

One last note - a tip for anyone learning Poi………practice with soft poi first, as those big balls with led lights in don’t half hurt when they smack you in the side of the head, and it stops being funny after a while…..(that clip didn’t make it into the finished video either!)

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_IndVPe_Vg]

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Jul 14

Ely Folk Festival

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I returned this morning from the weekend of extremes that was the 23rd Ely Folk Festival, held in a field just outside the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire.  A weekend where I needed both waterproof clothing and sun cream.  A weekend where I danced myself silly, and sat around doing very little. 

I’ve listened to music from England, Wales, Scotland and France, played by guitar, violin, accordian, double bass, pipes and drums amongst others.   I’ve ceilidh’d, french danced, and been taught a cajun waltz.  I’ve even danced in the streets of Ely with the molly dancers (briefly before the heavens opened!)  I’ve listened to music in three different marquees (not all at the same time!) and in the pubs of Ely.

A weekend where the fish & chip stall sold out before the beer tent.  Where music was played wherever the musicians gathered together and where impromptu dancing in the middle of a field was not thought unusual!

I’ve met people I already knew well, got better acquainted with people I knew by sight only, and met some interesting new people.  I even unwittingly danced with a ”Witchman” (the daarkside of morris) at the ceilidh (and wow, could he dance!!)  (www.witchmen.com)

Its been energetic, relaxing, inspiring and totally amazing.  My legs ache from too much dancing, my arms from too much poi!  A relaxing soak in the bath has proved rather too relaxing and I am now probably slightly late for the last minute planning meeting for the Plus party next weekend.

All I can say is - wow - roll on the 24th Festival. 

Video to follow…….

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