Caskes and biscuits

This is a really good one from our cheeky electrical team!

Please note that the Festival organisers reserve the right to test delivered goods for suitability for consumption by the staff at any given time of their choosing.

BIG TOP SPECIAL CONCERTS

WATER FIRE AND EARTH

What other elements do you need for a perfect combination of concerts ?
Oh yes. amazing musicians and singers.... and what a fabulous bunch of 'em we have for your delectation!

 The Big Top concerts tickets are on sale as from Friday 10th May 2013.

Tickets for each event are just £12* with an offer of just £30 for all three and are available via the Chippenham Community and Visitor Information Centre.

They are contactable by phone from 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday and  9.30am to 3.00pm Saturdays and Bank Holidays on 01249 665970 or FAX: 01249 460776

We are convinced that these will be some of the most memorable concerts you will have seen for some time.


* Note. If you already have a full, day or evening ticket this charge will not apply but will have stringent venue capacity restrictions. So get in the queue early.
 

Programme tease!

Hi all
here is a copy of the front cover of the forthcoming festival programme.
The image is from a painting created on commission by Bob Rudd, A local painter, honouring the painting by Louise Rayner, A late 19C painter that also painted Chippenham Market place.
The commission was from The Chippenham Borough Lands Charity that supports the Folk festival each year and allows us to use the land that Camp Site 3 is on.
here also is a copy of the painting alongside the Louise Rayner one
Copies of the new one are available from CBLC who can be contacted here: www.cblc.org.uk

We are grateful to CBLC not only for this painting, set at the Queens Jubillee weekend in 2012, but also for their unstinting support and belief in the festival and what it stands for.

In Bob's picture you can clearly make out several people including Bob Mustow with his jesters uniform collecting, John Clifford with his "Dragon" and Earlsdon Morris in the blue socks with Holly Copse Molly awaiting their turn to perform.
Are you in the picture?
let us know.
 

Please be aware that ALL these images are subject to copyright.

 

CHIPPFOLK NEWS 1st May 2013

   

Well, May is here along with some sunshine!.. Let's hope it continues.

There is lots to talk about in this newsletter so we'll try to be brief, and, hopefully informative...

    Tickets & Charges

    Big Top Concerts

    Artists

    Amazing team work

    Volunteers

    Food

    Stage 3

    Festival ale

    The Programme

Tickets & Charges

When we sent the printed booking brochure out it contained a small bit about needing to add 4% onto ALL ticket sales from the 1st May.

This was to coincide with the launch of our new fantastic online sales system!. We completed on our side of the deal with Adam our brilliant web master doing his bit but sadly our partners in the online system have not quite sorted the other side out. It's just a matter of finding time for a volunteer that works all day trying to meet up with someone that finished at 5pm. Such is the lot of a volunteer.

No problem really though as we have now decided to shelve the online system till after this festival..

So what do we do about this 4%. If you are printing off the form from the website then there is no problem Just fill it in, send us the cheque and that's it.

However - if you wish to use your card through our PayPal system or decide to buy through the Chippenham Visitor & Information Centre then the charge will still apply.

We are looking to drop the charge altogether next year... but that another year and we'll let you know as and when we make the decisions regarding next years prices etc.

Big Top Concerts

The concerts are looking absolutely the thing to do each day at the festival.

The Shanty concert "Round the Horn & Back Again" on Saturday evening looks really exciting with up to 40 people on stage belting out sea songs of every kind. Lots to join in with and you are encouraged to wear something that reflects the sea (except just seaweed!) "Shanty Jim" Mageean, the Exmouth Shanty Men, Graham Knights, and a host of other singers will raise up a storm and keep you afloat until it's time to sail home.

Sunday sees an altogether more land based concert, "Oxford on Fire" with the celebration of 20 years of Oxfords own Magpie Lane. They will be performing some of the songs and music that has made them one of the country's finest English folk song groups. Also in the concert we will highlight a few of Oxfordshire's' other traditions including Bampton & Kirtlington Morris, master of the concertina, Dave Townsend and members of the Oxford Fiddle group plus a few surprises thrown in. Hot stuff indeed!

The last concert is no less amazing with Luke Daniels, John Dipper and some extraordinary young musicians from all over the United Kingdom to present a wonderful journey following the paths and roads of the last of the Cattle Droves in England through song and specially commissioned music. They are joined by members of the Southern Sinfonia, and some students that are working in the project. A myriad of instruments and extremely beautiful music await you in what will become a most memorable concert.

If you have a season ticket all you will need to do is turn up and if there is room then you are in.

There will be 200 tickets available for each of the nightly concerts and are priced at £12 each. These are available via the Chippenham Visitor & Information Centre on 01249 665970 or email chippenham@gov.uk

Artists

Goodness, we don't know where to begin really. We'll start with at least one major player that has not been to Chippenham for a long time. Rory McLeod is a one off. An amazing guitarist with a percussive singing style like no other, he will take you round the world telling wonderful stories in songs that paint a thousand pictures. Rory is with us on the Monday only.

We have only just finishing arranging the story telling for this years festival and this year we have a couple of faces you will recognise from the last few years with Peter Hearn & Sarah Law performing on the Sunday, the energetic and delightful Ursula Holden Gill (she was in TV's Emmerdale - yes that's where you saw her!) on the Monday and a new face to Chippenham, the equally delightful John Row.. Now let me tell you a story ...... No perhaps not..!

Artists seem to be celebrating anniversaries at this years festival with Peeping Tom Ceilidh band revelling at being top of their game for 41 years and Steam Chicken 20 years. This great number of years experience will be countered by the younger bands that are determined to give them a run for their money with Ceilidhography doing a fantastic job. These can be seen in the Olympiad Sports hall and the new Stage 3 lunchtime ceilidhs (See Stage 3).

Amazing team work

We are always amazed at the number of people that work ceaselessly throughout the year and a few need to be mentioned.

Some of the unsung heroes of the festival are Adam our webmaster, Carolyn our minutes secretary, Alan and Janet for their huge contribution towards Tickets and finances, Joan who is not only taking on the treasurers role but is still doing all the display Dancing organising . Jan and Dave for doing the programme, Rob for his brilliant and skilful policy writing, Steve who looks after our safety, Barry that manages the Island Park, Our great cabin staff headed up by Bridget & Sylvia, Chris & Rod for stewards and not forgetting our amazing team of workers that sort out all the tasks and setting up. Richard, Grace, Cheney and their team cannot be thanked enough for what they do. Here also we should mention the artistic managers Mike, Cat, Bob, Liz, Andy and of course the "Boss" Gill!

If you do nothing else this year just say thanks to one of our working team. they will appreciate it hugely. There are countless others that also make it all happen and they all do it for nothing. Thanks guys!

Volunteers

On the subject of workers, how do you fancy being part of the team. We still need people to work on our task force, in the office and in various stewarding duties. Please go to the Stewarding section on the website and find out more at www.chippfolk.co.uk

Food

We have a new main caterer on the Island park site for this year with Iechyd da catering (that's Yakki Dah to us) replacing the Chez Nous tent in the entrance to the park. Brian and Michel (from the original Chez Nous team) will be bringing us a taste of Wales with their extremely tasty grub. For more info about them go to their website www.iechyd-da-catering.co.uk

We will still have all the other usual food suppliers plus one or two additional ones, keeping you well looked after during your visit.

Stage 3

The big news for this year will certainly be that the Ceilidhs that were in the Black Horse are now going to be sited near the Olympiad in a wooden floored marquee.

This new venue looks set to be a favourite place to enjoy your lunchtime dance each day. Top names will perform there and the venue will also play host to workshops and Open Mike sessions.

There will be a charge for entry (unless you have a season ticket) for the lunchtime Ceilidhs of just £5. We hope to have some refreshments there but there will not be a bar.

Festival ale

Talking of Bars. This year we will be running our own bars again in the Olympiad. Great beer at sensible prices can be purchased here and there will be a range of soft drinks and other refreshments as well.

This will only be available to those with a valid ticket to get into the Olympiad events.

The Programme

The programme is well on it's way. We made the decision not to post out the souvenir programme this year purely on economic grounds as each one was going to cost almost half the cover price to do so.

Fairly soon the basic working listing will go up on the website and once all the final timings are finished the whole of the working programme will be available to see. We reckon it should be up there by around the 10th of May.

Take note of the Souvenir programme when you get to see it as the cover has been taken from a recently commissioned painting for our supporters The Borough Lands Charity and it depicts the area of the market place last year during the Jubilee Festival. It is a wonderful painting by Chippenham artists Bob Rudd and copies can be purchased if you would like one. Details can be found in the souvenir programme and will soon be on our web site too.

That's it for now. We will be sending more in about a week

Thanks for getting this far and if you have a mailing list or even a list of friends on your email list please pass it on to them and hopefully we will be able to get more people too this wonderful event of ours

Cheers for now

The Festival team

The Childrens festival - A Tour of the Castle Grounds

The Castle gate!

Every castle is a busy jumble of guilds, towers and halls and the Kid's Den Castle is no different. This year we have named our marquees after the buildings you would find within a castle.
As you enter through the Tower, you will be greeted and signed in by our Steward team. Under 8's Must be accompanied by an adult and all adults must be accompanied by a child!!

 

Mr Browns Pig entertaining the children at the 2012 festival

Our Craft tent has become the Blacksmith's workshop, OK, we don't have hammer and anvil but the children will be busy building, crafting their imaginary monsters, the armour of the knights of legend, or tights depending on which legend they pick!

What would castle life be like without the Bards?
.
Our Bard's Guild will house a multi-talented bunch. With Story tellers, singers, and instrument, and dance workshops. Our Court Jester heads up the Jester's Guild with circus skills for all.
As always our central outside space, our Keep, will have a dance floor used for circus skills and dance workshops when the sun's out. As always we have our main marquee, the Great Hall for performances, and to give us cover to retreat inside if the rain invades!!
New this year will be our Kids den Ceilidh with Ceilidhography on the Monday either in the Keep or the great hall depending on how lucky we are!!

Keith Donnelly is always popular in the Childrens Castle

Also new this year will be the Stables, a play area for under 5's. This will be a small area, supervised by stewards with small numbers of play equipment available such as our ball pit and play dough. This will strictly be a stay and play area where parents can play with their children. Stewards are on hand to ensure older children stay away, however, they are not able to be responsible for under 5's.

The Bards Guild busier than ever this year, with two story tellers each day, Stiltskin, and Ursula Holden Gill
Cat Kelly will be running a singing workshop as well as the family band.
Sue Snell will be taking over the Guild with an army of Uke players each day.
Nyfte will be teaching a variety of traditional dance
With the young Wreckers "yoinks" teaching Border Morris.

Previous posts - have you missed anything?

Due to the nature of Blogs there may be something you have missed. If you go to the orange coloured text lists on the right of this blog you can catch up on all sorts of things you need to know.
Just click on any of them and they will open up. Happy viewing

Do you have something to comment about anything on this blog. We welcome all comments (remembering its a family read blog of course!)

Write to us we'd like to know what you think.
The Festival Team

Strictly Come Clogging comes to Chippenham

Clog mania!

A museum curator, a charity shop manager, a teacher, and the chief executive of a town council may not on the face of it have all that much in common.
But each of these has agreed to learn to morris dance for charity in their home town at the behest of Chippenham’s Clog Morris dancers Hips and Haws.
All will take part in a glamorous and glitzy competition – Strictly Come Clogging – as a flagship event at Chippenham’s world famous folk festival on May 25 2013.
They will be expertly compéred by Paul Sartin, oboist and fiddler with bombastic folk luminaries Bellowhead – now regularly heard on BBC Radio 2 – and judged on their skills by an expert panel which will include Ann Blake and Keith Walley of Dancers of Chippenham. The dancers will compete to win the fabulous Golden Hankies award.
The show – the brainchild of Hips and Haws members Lucy Whitfield and Sue Stearn – is aimed to both unite the Chippenham community to raise money for local charities and celebrate the 30^th anniversary of Hips and Haws dancing in the town.
“Where others might have a gigantic cake or a big party, we’ve decided to make more of a spectacle of ourselves for our 30^th birthday,” says Lucy Whitfield. “We wanted to do something a bit out of the ordinary. Everyone loves Strictly Come Dancing when it’s on the television, and who would expect something like this from a bunch of morris dancers?!”
“We want as many people as possible from across Chippenham to come and watch the show,” says Sue Stearn. “It will be on the main arena stage at the Folk Festival on Island Park, at 1pm on Saturday, May 25^th. That’s the hour before the parade of morris sides down the High Street. It’s completely free and open to the public, and under cover too" 

Paul Sartin from Bellowhead

Competitors are also being encouraged to raise sponsorship for other worthy causes. Chippenham Town Council’s chief executive Sue Wilthew, Chippenham Museum curator Melissa Barnett, manager of the YMCA charity shop Steve Graham and Ivy Lane Primary School teacher James Faulkner – will all raise money for a variety of good causes. Local arts project Kandu Arts will be providing half-time entertainment.
“We’re really keen to make it a big community event,” says Lucy Whitfield. “We want to link as many different groups and people across Chippenham to come together and raise money for a vital cause, as well as having a lot of glamorous and sparkly fun for our 30^th birthday.”

“My mum lives in Chippenham, so I visit the town a lot and I love it here,” says compére Paul Sartin. “It’s got lots going on, a really vibrant place, and of course the Folk Festival is the jewel in the crown.
“So when Hips and Haws asked me to compére Strictly Come Clogging I just couldn’t say no. I’ve got my top hat and tails ready!”

moreinfo can be found her http://strictlycomeclogging.wordpress.com/ 

Latest Map of the festival

Here is a Google map of the festival with all the venues on. If you want anything else put on to this map please let us know and we'll add it.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=215188698860104586381.0004d90d8d04f0bc40f1f

 If you click on the above link it should take you to Google maps.
Once you arrive at the page you can click on any of the blue pointers which will give you a brief description of the venue.

Chippenham Folk festival Venues via Google Maps.

Schools day

 

On the Friday of the Folk Festival schools from the Chippenham area attend workshops learning different style of Morris dance, longsword, maypole,or play and sing.  The workshops are led by volunteers who are experts in their dance style like Dennis Wheeler of Wickam Morris, and Peter Eames our longsword teacher.

Forming the "KNOT" in a longsword dance

 Some are traditional dance enthusiasts who  will be performing over the festival weekend and come down a day early to teach the children. This year we are delighted to have the young side Fool's Gambit, teaching their Cotswold dances. 

 

Children enjoying some country dancing

 

Others are teachers of traditional dance who lead children's groups throughout the year. Kim Woodward has helped Ivy Lane to develop their own Border Morris side.

Sue Snell teaches Ukulele to teachers and schools throughout the year and is happy to be leading the music workshop again for us.

The "Queen" of the Ukelele, Sue Snell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After working hard in the morning workshops in venues throughout the town, including the lovely old church, the Cause, the children join together to perform dance and sing> They leave exhausted at 2:30pm looking forward to their spring bank holiday, many come back with their families over the weekend.

The Downfielders band play for the Children in their last dance

 

 It should be noted that the Schools day is limited to teachers and parents of the children involved and is not a public event

Rory comes to town !

At last we have the incomparable Mr Rory McLeod. He really is one of the most captivating, and probably the most travelled, artists we ever have booked. Looking through the records it was at least 15 years since he has performed at Chippenham so sit back and be entranced by the journey!
Rory is playing at the festival on the Monday only

 

 Here are some reviews of Rory's work:

Australian Tour 2001:

"McLeod is one of the most energetic, most generous performers I've seen." (Doug Spencer, ABC Radio, 2001)

"The evening came to a close with Learning To Walk Again, a perfect end to a perfect encore and another reason why the crowd did not want him to leave." (Revolver, Sydney, 19 Feb 2001)

" 'The charismatic British storytelling troubadour, proved to be very entertaining as he tripped passionately through highly original and distinctive self-penned material. Rory is a confident conversationalist." (Beat Magazine, Melbourne, 21 Mar 2001)

"...eloquently expressed ideas are set to vibrant, dynamic music with bouncy rhythms, infectious riffs and nifty tunes. McLeod transmitted a pure joy of music making ..."

St Louis Post-Despatch (USA)
"Atavistic peoples' music ... something uncommon and most certainly an endangered species. You'll know Rory when you see him - above all don't miss him next time he's here."

Molly McAnailly Burke, Hot Press (Ireland)
"Rory is a dynamic live performer - never still or silent, his shows radiate energy. All this dynamism does not obliterate his songs which are always thought-provoking and well crafted. Get hold of one of his albums and come and see one of the folk circuit's greatest live performers."


Venue magazine, Bristol (UK)
"...he inspired both a standing ovation on the main stage and widespread enthusiasm at his many workshops."


The Ubyssey, Vancouver Folk Festival (Canada)
"He immediately won the hearts of people by playing a tune on his harmonica to a crying baby, who was so astounded that it stopped crying (temporarily)! For an encore he played Back to Donegal at the request of the crowd which did not want to see him go."


Mary Evans, Sidmouth Herald (UK)
"Like a human organ-grinder..."


City Pages, Minneapolis (USA)  

and a 4 minute video of him:


 http://www.paquito.it/shared/RORY.mpeg

Keeping it in the Family

KMM in full backwards flight doing the famous Hockleback - Great picture

 
25 festivals ago Bob & Gill Berry was asked to help out on the song and concert side of the festival. No great feat really, as many of the earlier team are still helping to pull together the festival each year.
Thank goodness too as it is with their support that the festival enables to run each year.

No vertigo issues here!

However back in 1985 Bob, and more importantly his parents, were also involved with Morris dancing with their home village in Kirtlington, Oxfordshire. In the previous 4 years Len & Barbara, Paul Davenport and Tim Radford has reformed the Kirtlington Morris Men and the Lamb Ale Whitsun village festival.
In all that time Bob & Gill have been hoping to showcase Kirtlington at the festival but never really managed it. They did make a brief aoppearance several years ago but were completely washed out and didn't get to dance.
Now, at last they are on their way!.
Bouyed up by their recent excellent performances at the Sidmouth Folk Week, including winning a section of the John Gasson Morris Jig competition (best newcomers!) they will be gracing our stages, streets and pubs. They are a superb side with some extraordinary dance moves and we are all very excited (not least Bob & Gill) by their appearance at last.
Accompanying the side will be an exhibition by Michael Wright, the sides archivist ( and one of the country's leading expert on Jews Harp playing!). This exhibition will be in the Island park and charts the Kirtlingtons Morris sides history with lots of wonderfully collated photographs, and other materials.

Len, Barbara and the side on their visit to Chirk, North wales

Here is a picture of the Kirtlington Morris Men with Len and Barbara a couple or so years ago. Sadly, Len passed away in Christmas 2011 and to commemorate the man a dance was devised in his memory and called, unsurprisingly, Len Berry, It is usually danced to a tune by Fairport Covention's Chris Leslie.

Fishermens Friends Tragic Loss

We have just heard that the popular Port Isaac Shanty group have suffered a tragic loss with their tour manager, Paul McMullen and one of the singers, Trevor Grills, have lost their lives in an accident at a music Venue in Guildford.
Our thoughts go out to the families, the group and all their fans at this sad time
Fans the world over are adding their tributes and concern for Trevor . Visit their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fishermans-Friends/344363427067

RITCHIE, PARRISH, RITCHIE To hit Chippenham again

Well Here they are again
After Tanglefoot finished as a group a few years ago, Women ( and some men apparently!) across the country mourned the loss but have no fear - they are back.
Ritchie -Paarrish - Rtchie are a concentration of all that waa Tanlefoot on a tour called "Untangled"
Expect high end, testosterone filled songs and harmonies delivered in the the way only these boys can. Yay!

 Here is this years booking brochure:

Here the latest news from Chippfolk

Hi folks

Here is an update for your information.

In this issue:

* Early booking dates

* Goodbye to a friend

* Big Top Concerts

* The Skatepark!

* Artists

* Website & Blog

* 4% ?

* Programme?

Date Change

The end of January has always been the traditional time when we change over the date from the early price to the next stage. However, as we have seemed to have done the last 3 years, we have decided to extend yet again till the end of February. This will allow many more of you to be able to benefit from the early price. At this stage you can save up to £10 per ticket until 28th  So if you want to take advantage of the offer please check into the web site or get hold of a booking form(if you cant see one- give us a shout and we'll send you one)

The last spark!

Sadly we have heard that our festival electrician, Ben Harrison, recently passed away at his home. Ben was the young man who led the team that put all the power into many parts of the festival and was a real nice chap all round. We will miss him in many ways and we send his family our sincere condolences.

Big Top

This year we present 3 top concerts for your delectation.

The first, at 6.30pm on the Saturday, is a Sea Shanty show called " Round the Horn and Back Again". This is a big re-work of a show under the same name we did way back in 1997. It will feature Jim McGeean, The Exmouth Shanty Men, The Magnificent AK47 and many more. Should be great.

Sunday Night we will have a show called "Oxford on Fire" with Magpie Lane and others. It will be a celebration of 20 years of Magpie Lane and the music and songs from their Oxford homeland.

On Monday we present a fabulous performance from Luke Daniels, John Dipper and a large number of performers presenting "Drover Tracks" This is a unique gathering of music and songs that have been written specifically for the show and we are the only Folk festival programmed in for it so far. More about these concerts on the news section of the web site.

Roll On!

As we stand we are safe from the importing of lorries of concrete pouring onto Island park and we are doing everything we can to ensure it stays that way. The argument against the area being used for a skate park is very strong and thank you all for your comments and letters to the council. It certainly showed a huge show of support for our determination that the green space in Chippenham is best left alone for everyone to enjoy just as it is.

Artists

We have, more or less, booked all the artists we need for the festival and it's looking really great. Some great acts and some brilliant events for you.

Internet info

The new Website is up and running. Adam, our intrepid webmaster, is slaving away in a dark room pulling all the bits of string together to make it all work. It's a hard job and he's working as quickly as poss to get it all together. The artists information is proving to be a bit tricky so we will be putting up the old info page soon so you can keep up to date with whos who..

There is an opportunity to catch up on some of the latest news by looking at the news section on the website. Just click on News and you will be able to read some of the latest stories. Don't forget also that there are some great videos and a number of photos from last years festival on the web site too.

go to www.chippfolk.co.uk for all of the links you need.

Admin costs for tickets.

Sadly we are faced with some seriously rising costs and as of the 1st May we will be adding a 4% addition on to all payments for tickets to the festival. We are hoping that this will coincide with the new on-line ticketing system. Whilst some may say that this is a huge rise in the cost of coming to the festival we have found that it is still coinsiderably cheaper than may other festivals. You can pay as much as 10% for tickets in many and the average is about 6%. We have decided to add it to all sales as then it is fair for all and covers the huge admin and postage fees that the festival has to cover.

Lastly - The Souvenir Programme

We are still going to produce a souvenir programme as many of you seem to collect them as well as use it over the weekend. However, as in the last few years we will also be putting the working programme up on the web site as soon as we can so you can get an idea what you are coming to. Hopefully this will be ready on the 1st May. You can still pay for your programme in advance, or pick one up when you get here. the one thing we cant do is put it in the post as it now costs too much to send them out.

Cheers for now

the festival team

"On Drover Tracks" details

Here are some more details about the Big Top Concert on the Monday evening

The many drove roads or tracks set deeply into the Wiltshire, West Berks and
Oxfordshire countryside represent historical and cultural exchange between urban and
rural, rich and poor, literate and aural traditions. Luke Daniels (melodeon) and John
Dipper (fiddle) are joined by musicians from Ireland, Wales and England to create
12 new contemporary folk songs with composer Anna Rice, that explore drovers and
droving linked by a theme and narrative of the last ever large-scale cattle drove across
England in 1870.

The exact ages of most routes are unknown but what is certain is that they link
modern-day rural communities, both directly and to a unique shared past. What kind
of relationships did they forge with local communities, generations of whom supported
them along their journey? Do evidence of such links still exist today? And what of the
final drovers who witnessed the introduction of the railways and the coming of an age
that would ultimately put an end to their unique way of life?

Since much of the livestock driven along these routes originated in Ireland, Gael
Music commissioned Dublin based Anna Rice to compose a suite of new folk songs.
Performers Ceri Rhys Matthews (Pibgorn & Flute), Ceri Owen Jones (Welsh Single
Harp), Matheu Watson from the Scottish Highlands on guitar and fiddle and members of
Southern Sinfonia make up an outstanding ensemble cast, all of whom have personal
links to the route and the traditional music that serves as the starting point for this
exciting new work.

Photo Juilian Simard
Artwork Anna Dillon Towards Uffington 2002 (adapted by R Berry for the above poster)
------------------------------------------
This Big Top concert is at 6.30pm on Monday 27th May 2013 can be accessed with a valid Festival Season ticket or individual tickets may be available at £12 each (sorry no concessions) soon

 The new show from this popular group to be playing at this years Festival

 

From Wellington’s army to World War II, this moving performance paints a vivid picture, inwords and music, of the men who marched away, the girls they left behind, and many others whose lives have been touched by the hand of war.

Stories and songs of courage, conflict, compassion and even comedy, are presented through the magical harmony singing of Moira Craig, Sarah Morgan and Carolyn Robson, with the finale set against the backdrop of evocative images from the archives of former soldier and

photographer Angus Beaton.

For more information, visit us online at www.cmr-harmony.org.uk.

Ben Harrison, Chippenham's "Sparky" RIP

Ben Harrison who has passed away and will be sadly missed by a LOT of people. 

Sleep well Ben !

Shanty comes to town

The Exmouth Shanty Men are to take part in the Big Top Concert on the Saturday evening
and they will help turn the tent into a working ship with capstans, sails, ropes and other equipment. Hopefully we will get to see how these Shanties worked with the various jobs that were needed to turn a huge lump of timber into a sleek fighting vessel.

Saturday Big Top Concert Confirmed
Round the Horn & Back Again

Way back in 1997 we put together a show by the same name and it proved to be a great success. It involved 2 shanty crews, Hanging Johnny and The Bristol Shanty Men, a load of home-made props and Tony O'Neill steering the crew through what was a brilliant concert.
So we thought it would stand another visit.
However we are upgrading it a bit with as many shanty singers as we can muster, led by the master of 'em all, Jim McGeean. We can also confirm a full crew from the Exmouth Shanty Men and the Magnificent AK47's will be performing during the show.  Hopefully we wont get raided by Pirates but you never know what might happen!
If you want to be involved with the show we are looking for crew members to be part of a huge 'Bellow' at the end of the show. It's enough to "shiver me timbers" !



Entry to all the Big Top concerts are by either Full Festival Season Tickets or individual tickets priced at £12. (No concessions -sorry)
Full details of these Concerts and how to get to see them will be announced in the next few weeks

Some concerts for this year!

There are some really exciting events at Chippenham for this year. Now we are sure that we are OK after the Skate park fiasco ( for this year at least ) here are some of the exciting events booked in for this year.

The Big Top concerts

Magpie Lane

On the Sunday evening (6.30pm - 8.30pm ) we are presenting "OXFORD ON FIRE!" with MAGPIE LANE. The band has been performing together for 20 years and , in this celebration of their music and songs, you will find many of your favourites. The band represents everything we do at Chippenham and have performed at the festival several times. More details about the concert later.

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Looking toward Uffington  and John & Luke

On Monday we are hugely proud to be the only Folk festival on the itinerary for a grand new musical project from the Gael Music stable, DROVERS TRACKS by Luke Daniels and John Dipper
The many drove roads or tracks set deeply into the Wiltshire, West Berks and
Oxfordshire countryside represent historical and cultural exchange between urban and
rural, rich and poor, literate and aural traditions. Luke Daniels (melodeon) and John
Dipper (fiddle) are joined by musicians from Ireland, Wales and England to create
12 new contemporary folk songs with composer Anna Rice, that explore drovers and
droving linked by a theme and narrative of the last ever large-scale cattle drove across
England in 1870.

The exact ages of most routes are unknown but what is certain is that they link
modern-day rural communities, both directly and to a unique shared past. What kind
of relationships did they forge with local communities, generations of whom supported
them along their journey? Do evidence of such links still exist today? And what of the
final drovers who witnessed the introduction of the railways and the coming of an age
that would ultimately put an end to their unique way of life?

Since much of the livestock driven along these routes originated in Ireland, Gael
Music commissioned Dublin based Anna Rice to compose a suite of new folk songs.
Performers Ceri Rhys Matthews (Pibgorn & Flute), Ceri Owen Jones (Welsh Single
Harp), Matheu Watson from the Scottish Highlands on guitar and fiddle and members of
Southern Sinfonia make up an outstanding ensemble cast, all of whom have personal
links to the route and the traditional music that serves as the starting point for this
exciting new work.

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Entry to all the Big Top concerts are by either Full Festival Season Tickets or individual tickets priced at £12. (No concessions -sorry)
Full details of these Concerts and how to get to see them will be announced in the next few weeks

Storming the Castle!

Hey Festival goers!!

I'm Cat and you may have seen me and my team of awesome stewards surrounded by our Knights of the round table in our Castle at this year's knights of the round table themed children's festival. 

We take over a corner of Island park each year with a full festival programme just for the children.

 I can hardly believe that we are fast approaching the end of 2012!  As next year's festival fast approaches, this year's children's festival is taking shape. 

As always we will have workshops and activities from song, dance and story, as well as circus skills and traditional crafts. 

Scrapstore are returning after they wowed us all this year with our very own dragon! Who knows what they will dream up this year!  

A new comer to 2013 is Stiltskin, performance group based in the south west,  you may recognise them from Sidmouth.  As well as running our circus skills workshops they will also be contributing to our story telling sessions,  and you might even spot some interesting characters wandering around the festival, but more about that nearer the time! 

2013 's theme is Myth's and Legends.   So What Myths and legends are your favorites?  what legendary character's should we be inviting into our castle?

I think that's enough details for now! watch this space for more in the coming weeks.  

here is a couple of links

Scrapstore : http://www.wiltsplay.org.uk

and Stiltskin:

https://www.facebook.com/stiltskinarts?fref=ts a street andtheatre

New Website

Hi all. Take a look at the new website and check out some of the artists we have. This list is being updated all the time so also check in regularly, Our webmaster clearly has a christmassy thing going already looking at the snow on the pictures :-)
Tickets are already selling well and we would recommend getting in early to save those valuable pounds (20 of them per ticket at the moment.)
Do you have any videos of pictures of Last years festival. We are always on the lookout for unusual pictures. You never know they may even get onto the web page or in the programmes
Contact us or just send them in to publicity@chippfolk.co.uk

Skate park latest

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Chippenham Skatepark latest. We have now been to the public consultation and I can safely say that the evenings presentation from the council was pretty shambolic. The presentation were not very concise with the on screen slides seriously missing the connection with each other. A classic case of one hand not knowing what the other is doing. Some really valid points came out from the meeting and it was agreed by pretty much everyone in the room that the council must get on with providing a skatepark which has shamefully been in the promise bucket for some 12 years!. The biggest sticking point is, of course, that everyone wants it somewhere else. However the majority opinion seemed to be that a section of Monkton park (the bit near the Olympiad) is by far the best place and not the River Island Park.
It would seem that the one thing sort of preventing them is a small number of residents that live on the edge of the park that understandably want i

t anywhere but within earshot of their back garden. It seems to me that the council have to make a very special effort to convince these people that a skatepark can be in view of their property AND be audibly acceptable. They really, really have to get on with it as it is becoming ridiculous.
By far the best speaker in the room last night was, by far, the festival ex director, Dick Stanger, who was clear, concise and full of positive ideas which some others sadly lacked. Well done Dick - I did notice that Councillors were all furtively writing down all he was saying - or was it just noting his name!!
Well done all for the support shown to the festival and it's claim for the few days a year to this ideal site for the festival. Please do not let up. The more the merrier. If you play, have played or are about to play at the festival you have a valid voice to keep this site for a festival that has so much history and so much community spirit. That goes also for anyone who bought a ticket and bought even just a bag of sweets at the local shop. They all add to that enormous benefit for the town.
The next deadline is 7th January when the skateboard group make the next decision of where to go next. We have stated our intent to help them find somewhere
Cheers for now
Watch this space for more updates !

Chippenham skatepark meeting venue changes

Chippenham skatepark meeting venue changes

Council officials have changed the venue of the public meeting to discuss a skate park for Chippenham as they expect a large number of people to attend.
The meeting, on Monday night , was due to be at Wiltshire Council’s Monkton Park offices but will now be held at Sheldon School from 7pm to 9pm. The school can accommodate about 300 people.
Opinion has been mixed about River Island at Monkton Park, the only site identified by the skate park task group set up by Chippenham Area Board as a possible location.
Organisers of the Chippenham Folk Festival, which uses River Island, says if a skate park is built there it could threaten the festival.
A number of people, including councillors, believe River Island would not be a suitable site and have suggested an indoor site be found.
Councillor Desna Allen, chairman of the skate park task group and of the Area Board, said: “There are a great deal of feelings about the subject and everyone needs to be able to express their views.

"We will present our findings at the meeting and maybe explode some myths. Our brief was to look at sites in Monkton Park and that’s what we did. We will explain the rationale as to why we turned down some sites.
“A public protection officer from Wiltshire Council will talk about skate park equipment and the results of noise assessments.
“There will be an opportunity to ask questions and I would like to stress there has been no decision on River Island. It may be that we are asked to look at other sites. If the whole meeting says absolutely not to River Island we would be foolish to not take notice.
“We want to hear all views. We have a duty to young people to find a location for a skate park.”

A skate park used to be at Monkton Park but was taken down about ten years ago due to noise complaints.
Coun Allen said: “It’s because of that history that we have gone to such extreme lengths to try and get it right.”
Following the public meeting the skate park task group will meet and make a recommendation to the Area Board for its meeting on January 7.

Be there and object !
Sheldon School, Hardenhuish Lane, Chjippenham. 7pm