Two Rivers Folk Festival Chepstow 2008

It's six thirty in the afternoon on the Saturday of the Two Rivers Folk Festival Chepstow 2008 which I drove seventy miles to visit earlier today but, sadly, I am back at my home on the edge of Exmoor.

For me, the heart of a good folk festival is in the quality of its sessions and I was unable to find any that worked for me in Chepstow. Furthermore, when I asked at the office, they said buy a programme. I bought the programme and said 'now will you tell me?' and they said they didn't know.

The programme suggested The Three Tuns and, after a very expensive Italian meal to the sound of pop music, I found my way there.

In all fairness, if you like accompanied acoustic guitars, the afternoon session in The Three Tuns would probably have appealed to you, sadly, not to me. Eventually, I found a few lonely folk instrumentalists above the main festival office in the ex British Legion rooms (see photo top right). Their audience consisted mainly of festival stewards who were drinking cider in the corner. I was past joining in at that stage.

In the course of wandering the streets of Chepstow, I came across a very fine flautist and her talented guitar playing man, both extremely experienced session players. They had also visited the Two Rivers Folk Festival on Friday evening and had then drawn a blank too in their search for an instrumental folk music session. They told me they were on their way home to Bristol, disappointed.

No doubt there are many good things to say about the Two Rivers Folk Festival at Chepstow and I welcome comments from other festival goers below, but I shall have to leave it to others to find its redeeming factors and I won't be back.

Bye for now

Rob
(Rob Hopcott - online author, English and Irish folk musician)