Organisers of the Sidmouth Folk Festival have sent out heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this year’s event in the Devon seaside town such a rip-roaring sell-out success.
Billed as a celebration of the iconic Sidmouth Folk Festival, the week-long feast of song, dance and family fun hit just the right note last week, capturing the essence of its customary party atmosphere with an exclusively open-air, scaled-back schedule.
Festival director John Braithwaite said: “Hundreds of people came up to us personally during the week just to say thank you for putting on the festival on this year and particularly for the way that we delivered it. To receive this type of feedback is really rather wonderful. Thank you to everyone for believing in us – it has really paid off. “
Running since 1955, the annual folk festival is part of the fabric of Sidmouth. Two years after the last full-on dose of merriment in 2019, the streets of the handsome Regency town were once again alive with the sound of music through a mostly dry and sunny week (from July 31 to August 6), interrupted periodically by afternoon downpours that couldn’t dampen the festival spirit for long.
People’s safety and comfort in this time of Covid caution was a top priority for the team when planning this year’s official festival offerings, taking into account the preferences of 3,000 Sidmouth regulars who responded to an online survey.
“We worked hard to produce what our loyal patrons said they wanted this year, setting out to be Covid secure and in the open air, making people feel safe,” added Mr Braithwaite.
“We really couldn’t have achieved this without our faithful band of volunteers who contribute so much to the success of the event with their unfailing enthusiasm and devotion. At the same time, our professional teams and directors have produced a
Sidmouth Folk Festival like no other this year. 2021 was all new for them too and that presented challenges they had to overcome and did so in some style.”
Most activities, except the ticketed evening shows, were free to access for residents and visitors alike, but the majority dug deep to donate suggested amounts to support the festival.
Taking place in a new outdoor arena in leafy Blackmore Gardens were packed programmes of morning family activities and workshops, superbly organised by Bev and Ray Langton and their splendid volunteer team, with special input for the first time from the Sidmouth Arboretum.
Eclectic afternoon programmes on the Blackmore stage included stand-out performances from Devon’s finest Jim Causley, the multi-talented Narthen, Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage, Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and brilliant emerging young artists in EFDSS Presents with Zoe Wren, George Sansome and The Wilderness Yet amongst many others.
Headline evening concerts featured big folk names, including festival patrons Show of Hands, the dynamic Eliza Carthy Trio and Devon folk hero Seth Lakeman. Audiences also enjoyed beautiful sets from Jackie Oates and John Spiers, Hannah Martin and Miranda Sykes, and Jez Lowe, and barnstorming performances from Granny’s Attic and Banter, as well as an electrifying show from young Scottish trio Talisk.
The gardens proved to be the perfect spot for kicking back and enjoying everything on offer, with a choice of food and drink stalls and an eclectic craft market just around the corner.
Over at the Ham, people soaked up sea views and gentle breezes, along with inspiring Shooting Roots sessions for young people, infectious impromptu music sets from the likes of Will Pound, Saul Rose and David and James Delarre, engaging walkabout entertainment and delicious local refreshments.
Around and about the town, spectacular street theatre antics from Granny Turismo, The Pigeons and Beach Patrol delighted the crowds, and hardy dancers headed for the lunchtime ceilidhs at the Anchor Inn. Teams of Morris dancers returned to the Ham and the seafront on Sunday, organised at the last minute by Malcolm Major and Charlotte Dover.
Having shifted all activities online in 2020 because of Covid restrictions, organisers once again catered for those who couldn’t join the live experience with an impressive Online Festival, with the chance to participate in more than 50 Zoom workshops and enjoy exclusive performances.
These include specially recorded shows by Martin Simpson, Fara and Brìghde Chaimbeul, live performances from a dedicated studio in Sidmouth with Alice Jones, Jez Lowe, Jack Rutter and Ben Paley and Tom Edey, and some fascinating interviews with Richard Thompson, Steve Knightley and Eliza Carthy.
Many of these are available to watch until August 15. Visit sidmouthfolkfestival-live.co.uk and please consider donating via the festival’s Just Giving page to help cover costs.
Plans are already being put together for Sidmouth Folk Festival to return in grand style next year, from July 29 to August 5 2022.
“Thanks again to all those who made the family and concert programmes work so well. We all missed many aspects of SFF that we weren’t able to provide this year. However we have learned a lot from this Celebration of Sidmouth Folk Festival, which will help us to return with a fabulous 2022 event.”