from the Festival Director - Sidmouth Folk week

What makes Sidmouth FolkWeek so special? continued
Naomi Bedford and darkly-crafted
folksters Telling The Bees and local
singer-songwriter Lori Campbell.
Having established a reputation for
fun-filled roots mayhem and high-energy
dance parties, evenings at Bulverton get
off to an early start with sessions and
parties from 7pm (Early Bird Specials at
Secret Ingredient catering and the Bar!)
and two great bands each night from
8.15pm. Get there early!
Morris Offspring’s joyful,
energetic and vital celebration of the
power and grace of English traditional
dance Must Come Down promises to
be an exuberant dance spectacle with
beautiful music, stunning singing and
heart-stopping stories featuring Jackie
Oates and Debs Newbold.
Social Dance steps up its profile in
2012 with a brand new, state of the art
evening venue, as well as daytime
events in town venues and back-to-back
morning workshops at Blackmore
Gardens Marquee. We are delighted that
Malcolm Storey is able to be with us at
the festival as dance advisor and is
already planning for next year. Thanks to
Sidmouth Town Council for financial
support to expand and improve social
dance provision in 2012.
Traditional music events find a
comfortable home at The Woodlands
Hotel with John Howson, Dan Quinn
and Peta Webb and Ken Hall hosting
Traditional Nights Out and afternoon
‘specials’. The Arts Centre houses the
festival folk club, hosted by Bob & Gill
Berry, where singers, musicians and
storytellers are welcome to take to the
floor. Informal sessions and themed
singarounds run at the Rugby Club.
Keith Owen Funding
This year the Keith Owen Fund of the
Sid Vale Association has generously
funded two related projects that allow
the festival to further engage with the
local communities.
Stiltskin Creative Arts and
Theatre Company have worked with
children at the Sidmouth Primary School
to developing the children’s performance
and circus skills, leading to their
performance in Blackmore Gardens
through the day on Saturday 4th August.
This year’s Torchlight Procession
will have an Olympic theme, particularly
focusing on the sailing events held at
nearby Weymouth and emphasising
Sidmouth’s maritime history and the
local communities’ ongoing relationship
with the sea. Our maker, Martin West,
will mastermind the creation of large
structures reflecting this theme with the
support of local and festival assistants. In
addition to their earlier schools project,
Stiltskin will also work as part of the
Young Sidmouth programme. Their main
role at the Festival will be to teach stilt
walking and other circus skills to visiting
and local children and, where appropriate,
take part in the Torchlight Procession. With
the support of the Keith Owen Fund we
have also been able to programme street
band workshops to enable further
participation in this year’s procession.
The Sidmouth Smile
Sidmouth FolkWeek has been delighted
to support the children of Sidmouth
Primary School who have been working
on their superb newspaper aimed at
bringing good news to their community.
The summer edition of The Sidmouth
Smile featured FolkWeek very
prominently and included festival news,
programme and interviews with artists
conducted by the children. Look out for
the newspaper around the festival.
page 5