Friday 22nd May - Monday 25th May 2009 (Spring Bank Holiday Weekend)

Latest Festival News (March 2009)

FESTIVAL GUESTS

This year we've again put together another fantastic and varied selection of performers.

Saturday's headliners are Brass Monkey (featuring the legendary Martin Carthy and John Kirkpatrick) and perennial Chester favourites Chris Sherburn and Denny Bartley. They will be supported by the extremely talented duo Tom Napper Tom Bliss; Doc Harvey & the Philistans (a humorous collaboration between 3 faces who will be familiar to many Chester regulars); last year's favourites Bill Whaley & Dave Fletcher and one of the North West's most popular groups, The Boat Band.

On Sunday we have regular Folk Award winners Lau and stunning Geordie duo Bob Fox and Stu Luckley, ably supported by Quicksilver (the amazing voice of Hilary Spencer coupled with the guitar playing and writing of Grant Baynham), Keith Donnelly (zany antics and fine singing); Flossie Malavialle (a talented singer with a hugely varied repertoire); Broughton-Bainbridge (a relatively new collaboration between Ben Broughton and Fran Bainbridge) and our old friend Marie Little, who will also be with us on Monday.

Our stars on Monday are young Montreal based trio Crowfoot and traditional singer and instrumentalist Brian Peters. Also appearing will be Shropshire based singer songwriter Bill Caddick and Lymm Folk Club residents Nelson Peach.

With us for the whole weekend will be Dan McKinnon, an award winning singer songwriter from Canada, and the extremely versatile Pete Coe - who has been described as' one-man folk industry'. Pete will be doing some workshops on Friday in Kelsall Primary School, and we hope to have some of the children performing the songs they have learnt at the festival on Saturday.
Also appearing at various times over the weekend will be musician and singer from the Aardvark Ceilidh Band, Pete Grassby plus our usual wealth of local performers who this year include Full House, The Time Bandits, The Waite Collective, Roy Clinging & Neil Brookes, Graham Bellinger (both solo and with his group Deportees), and Charlotte Peters Rock.

Ceilidhs this year will feature The Time Bandits, with Pete Coe calling, on Friday; The Aardvark Ceilidh Band, with Pete Grassby, twice on Saturday (once for all the family in the afternoon then later, for the grown-ups in the evening); Asha, with Dave Jolly and Jackie Allen, on Sunday (they will also be doing a spot in the afternoon concert) and All Blacked Up, with Pete Rees, on Monday.

SPECIAL EVENTS

'Dan Sings Stan' On Sunday Dan McKinnon will perform this one and a half hour show featuring the songs of legendary Canadian folk hero Stan Rogers.

'Songs Of Trial & Triumph' Monday's events will include a solo performance by Brian Peters of some of the greatest 'Child Ballads' - the crown jewels of British traditional song.

WORKSHOPS

Folkus, the Folk Development Agency for the North West, are sponsoring 2 workshops again: fiddle with Carolyn Francis on Saturday; and whistle with Phil Brown on Sunday. We will also be having workshops from a variety of our festival guests including Quicksilver, The Boat Band, Pete Grassby and a 'secret' workshop from Keith Donnelly. Paula Holden will again be running her Hatha Yoga workshops which were very popular last year. There will be one for beginners and an intermediate one - so bring your mats!

DISPLAYS

Our regular dance sides Chester City Morris Men and White Hart Morris Men will this year be joined by appalachian side Mind the Step. There will also be the usual theatrical mayhem from the Bradshaw Mummers.

VENUES, PUBS & CAMP SITES

The Concert Marquee on the main site, the Community Centre and Kelsall Social Club will be our main performance venues as usual. We will also be using the upstairs function room at The Oak for smaller events and workshops. The upstairs room at The Morris Dancer will also be used for workshops but only until midday, after which this area will be available for informal sessions, with a real ale bar open all day. This extra session space is to make up for the fact that the restaurant area at the Morris Dancer is to be kept for diners. Sessions will, of course, be welcome in the pub itself and anywhere in the grounds (we are expecting good weather this year!).
Paul & Rachel are looking forward to another successful Folk Festival. They will be handling all the catering themselves and have promised to provide a selection of meals and snacks, including plenty of vegetarian options. These will range from full meals in their hugely popular, but reasonably priced, restaurant to snacks served outside from the barbecue and hog roast. They will be serving food & drink throughout the day starting with breakfast from 8.30 am and finishing with the late bars which were so popular last year - no more late night singarounds in a freezing marquee! They have asked us to point out that they do operate a strict policy of prohibiting the consumption of food or drink not purchased on the premises anywhere in the pub or grounds. They feel that this has been essential in ridding the pub of the undesirable element which had previously congregated there and that they cannot make exceptions during the festival weekend. You are asked to co-operate with this and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.
They have assured us that there will be no funfair type amusements this year - instead children's play equipment is being installed in the pub garden. There has also been a new and most impressive children's play area installed by the Parish Council on their playing field. We have moved the Children's Tent onto the main site next to this new play equipment so, with the non-stop entertainment provided by Professor Panic and his friends each day of the festival, this will definitely be a fun place for the kids!

The Oak's new landlord, Steve, was deputy manager last year so he knows what to expect and is looking forward to welcoming us. There will be sessions in the pub, events upstairs, displays outside and the adjoining field will be available for extra camping as usual. The very popular mini beer festival held there last year is again taking place in the pub.

Mike at The Farmers Arms is still keen to be involved and we will be holding sessions there again. Their Chinese style restaurant & take-away meals are very popular - well worth making the trip up the hill!

Campsites this year will be the same as the last 2 years: ie the main festival site for those who like to be at the centre of the action, and, just a short distance along the footpath, the 'quiet site' for those campers with young families and others who prefer no noise at night. Both sites will be restricted to pre-booked weekend ticket holders only. We have moved the Craft Fair onto the main site to make room for more parking for both weekend and day visitors, but this does mean that camping space will be even tighter than usual - so book your tickets well in advance.
Cheshire Police will again be helping us to keep the site safe and secure. Many improvements have been made to Kelsall Green, as our main site is now known, and it is very much a friendly, family recreation area.

FEEDBACK

By far the most 'popular' topic was the fairground and, in particular, the 'Spritzer' ride that dominated the festival site last year. As I'm sure most of you realise, this was not part of the festival - we didn't know about it ourselves until the previous week! The landlord has told us that he does not intend to book any fairground rides this year. So, hopefully, peace and quiet will once again be restored.

We had one or two problems last year with concerts not starting on time - sometimes things don't go according to plan! Apologies to those of you who had to wait in queues outside venues - we won't let this happen again.

Apologies also to those of you who couldn't get seats at some events - it's not always easy to predict how popular an event will be. This problem was exacerbated by people saving seats for their friends, who, in some case didn't turn up at all. We will be actively trying to discourage this in future. Some of you commented on the uncomfortable seats in the marquee - unfortunately, these are the only ones that are available. The more comfortable 'bucket' type are no longer used - we bought the last ones from the hire company! We are currently negotiating with the Social Club to see if we can find a solution to the problem from noise from the next door bar.

Despite the criticisms mentioned above, most of you enjoyed the festival and complimented us on the choice of guests, the organisation, the tidiness of the field (for which we must thank Kelsall Parish Council) and the friendly staff in the pub.

Many thanks to all those who completed feedback forms - we always read and take note of your comments. We've booked, or re-booked, some of the guests you requested (eg Bill Whaley & Dave Fletcher, Keith Donnelly, Pete Coe, Marie Little) and we will continue to act on all your suggestions whenever possible.

KELSALL SCARECROW TRAIL

Once again this will be taking place over the festival weekend and there will be an impressive selection of 'scarecrows' around the village. Trail Guides will be available from the festival office and all money raised goes towards Kelsall Primary School. If anyone feels like joining in the fun and making their own scarecrow to display on the festival site, this would be most welcome. Last year Darryl Moorley made some magnificent scarecrows, which were on display by the office. We are hoping he will surpass those this year - but there's room for plenty more!

STEWARDS

Fancy a free ticket for the festival? We are always on the look-out for volunteers to help with various aspects of the festival. We need stewards during the weekend, to check tickets and regulate the campsite, and more willing hands to help set up before the event and clear up afterwards. If you think you might be able to help, click here for more information or phone us on 07005 977045.

MAILING LIST

Don't forget to keep us informed if you change your address. Also, if you have email and are willing to receive information that way, please tell us (preferably by email). This helps keep down our costs and our 'carbon footprint'.