Sidmouth folk festival 2008 success story I hardly dare to tell

Well, Sidmouth folk festival 2008 is over today and, as I look back over the week, there is a success story I hardly dare to tell.

Sidmouth folk festival is many things to many people; for me, it is the instrumental sessions that make it special. There are the Irish and English tunes at the Bedford Hotel, English tunes at the Radway Inn and Irish tunes at the Anchor and many more elsewhere.

But, for me and for a growing number of other people, the sessions at the Sidmouth Sailing Club have come to hold a very special place in our hearts. Somebody said to me that the Sailing Club Sessions are like a cuddly woolly blanket that just wraps around everybody and makes them feel welcome. I couldn't agree more and obviously many others feel that way because the numbers of devotees to the Sailing Club sessions just keep growing.

On one evening this week at the Sailing Club, I looked to the left of me and saw musicians in ranks, shoulder to shoulder, for twenty paces and then looked to the right to see musicians, in ranks, for a further twenty paces. In front of me there were further rows of them too. The photos in this post tell some of the story but cannot replicate the enormous feeling of being with so many friendly, happy and kindred spirits.

One person estimated there were at least 200 musicians, all somehow playing in time ... It was wonderful!

To discover why this particular session has become so popular one has to look to the people who are running it who are called the Loose Knit Band. Quite simply, they have a policy of meeting and welcoming everybody who comes to their sessions at the Sailing Club. People love it. It's like a big family and people just keep coming back and, whats more, they tell their friends so it is easy to see why growth of this popular session has been so explosive.

To find out more about the Loose Knit Band, I recommend you visit their web site run by Martin Hughes, himself a leading member. It's an interesting story and one rooted in the true ethics and ethos of the folk movement.

Backing up the Loose Knit Band, Martin Hughes tells me

"are the members of Sidmouth Sea Angling Club who do all the hard work behind the scenes and who are responsible for making us welcome at the Sidmouth Sailing and Sea Angling Club. Without them it just wouldn't happen. The parents of our lovely barmaid Caz even close their shop in Walsall to come down and help."

Finally, I did speak to Octogenarian Terry Pearson before writing this article and asked him if it was advisable to give this excellent session more publicity when it was already bulging at the seams.

In true Loose Knit Band style, Terry waved his hand in dismissal, laughed and said 'The more the merrier!'

The Loose Knit Band, is very much as their name suggests, but with the help of Martin Hughes, I finally managed to track the names down of those present at Sidmouth 2008. They were Jacqui Chiplin (Shetland Isles), Will Chiplin (Shetland Isles), Bob Ellis (Cumbria), Bill Francis (Kent), Martin Hughes (Somerset), Chris Malkin (Cumbria), Gordon Newton (Kent), Terry Pearson (Kent) and Geoff Maskell (Cumbria).

What a fine job they all did :-)

So pssst - there's a great session on during the evenings of the Sidmouth folk music week where you will be made really welcome by a group of talented musicians. Yes, it's a lot of squeeze boxes in one big room plus a few other instruments. Yes, it might feel more like a squeeze box orchestra and the sound may hurt your ears. But there is no other place in Sidmouth, in my opinion, where you will get a better welcome or to the same extent be made to feel you are part of a wonderful family and for me that counts for more than I can possibly describe.

But, if you want to get in next year... Psssst ... Just ... Don't ... Tell ... anybody :-)

Bye for now

Rob
(Rob Hopcott - online author and folk musician)