It’s August – so webmaster John and I have been settling down in fields with a few thousand close friends for that most English of events – folk festivals.
I’d never been to such an event before coming to England – and despite my impressive attendance record at such events during the past few years, I am still sometimes surprised – after all, who would have expected the guillotine…
A proper English folk festival begins with a field – one big enough to hold 10 or 20 thousand people who are soon to become your friends.
It’s best if this field can slope gently down to the point where you must add a stage (or sometimes more than one).
You’ll also need food stalls and a bar – lots of rubbish bins and at least one very long line of portaloos… Don’t forget the toilet paper.
Once this base is in place, you need to add a liberal number of enthusiastic volunteers to pour the beer, pick up rubbish, and clean the portaloos. These should be balanced by a small group of professionals to look after the ambulance stations, security and electronics.
Now add the audience. This can come in all shapes and sizes and ages. Leave room for kids and dogs… the laughter and wagging tails are an important part of the mix.
Large amounts of sunscreen are needed at this point – and hats.
It is possible to add a little water, but avoid too much rain – this will result in your festival mix becoming soggy.
The most important ingredients are, or course, the musicians. You can vary this according to taste – but popular flavours include…
Exponents of traditional music – these flavour the day with jigs and reels. There will also be traditional songs – which usually centre on sex and death – both normally to occur outdoors.
The solo singer songwriter is a popular flavour. These may be male or female – and usually come pre-fitted with a guitar. The content here may be humorous or a form of social comment. Sex may also be involved at this point.
Make sure to include some up and coming young musicians – they will mature over time and become the mainstays of your festival in years to come.
You may also want to add a seemingly inappropriate 70’s Goth God. This is like chilli in chocolate – unexpected and a bit startling – but once you get used to the idea, you love it.
An unexpected classical touch can also add flavour .. prompting a sing-a-long in Latin or middle English.
And of course, there should be a generous serving of a much-loved bands – fine musicians with a long history of fabulous music. This is the ingredient that binds the whole mix together.
During the making of the festival, you may notice the audience forming into lumps and strings. These are called queues and are generally found near the bar, T-shirt tents, food stalls and the aforementioned portaloos. They are an important part of the mix, although some care should be taken to ensure they don’t get too long.
Other clumps may form in the audience – in groups or clans or families. If you find them re-occurring each time you make a festival, this is a sign of the health of your mixture.
If you have got it right – mix will begin to bubble – and a great deal of noise will ensure… after which you’ll be overcome with an urge to do it again the next year – and the one of after that.. and the one….
