Beverley Folk Festival

Beverley Folk Festival
Status Active
Genre Music festival
Frequency Annually (second weekend of June)
Location(s) Beverley, England
Years active 34 years
Website www.beverleyfestival.com

The Beverley Folk Festival was a three-day celebration of music, workshops, comedy and spoken word, held at Beverley Racecourse in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. As of 2018, it will be replaced by an enlarged and reformed Beverley Fringe Festival.

Whilst British Folk Music, both traditional and new, remains at the heart of the festival, it also features many genres of music including Americana, world music, rock, a variety of acoustic performances and much more. In recent years it has expanded to encompass comedy, film, poetry, drama, literature and storytelling.

Past line-ups have ranged from folk legends such as The Watersons, Steeleye Span, Oysterband, Ralph McTell and the Peatbog Faeries, to Billy Bragg, Barbara Dickson and The Proclaimers. Contemporary performers have included Seth Lakeman, Bellowhead, Eliza Carthy and Blackbeard's Tea Party. Outside the realms of mainstream folk music, headliners have ranged from Joe Brown to Paul Carrack.

History

Established in 1983, the festival was originally organised by the White Horse Folk Club.[1]. Over the years it grew steadily in size and became based at Beverley Leisure Centre, with the venue hosting the main stage, with further music and craft tents on the adjacent site along with the campsite. Nearby pubs in the town including the Sun Inn and Tiger Inn also hosted live music, and the town centre various fringe events. Songwriter and broadcaster Mike Harding has been the festival patron for many years.

Racecourse Move

In 2013, the festival moved to the Racecourse[2]. This is located on the other side of the town near Beverley Westwood - an area of picturesque common land on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds. A festival shuttle bus operates between the town centre, bus and railway station and the site.

The Racecourse site includes:

The Festival Village: Here there are the widest variety of open-air musical performances, a range of quality food providers, information and craft stalls and much more.

Main Stage Marquee (The Big Top): This marquee hosts not only the festival’s main headliners, but also stages a variety of performers throughout the weekend. It has a capacity of well over 1000 and is regularly filled on all three nights of the festival.

Concert Marquee (The Little Top): Showcasing some of the freshest young talent, old favourites and a truly eclectic mix to suit all tastes. It is also home to some of the "Community" Concerts.

The Atom: Always a very popular venue which includes the Late Night and Moonbeams Sessions, improvised jamming, quality local real ale and a truly intimate and inviting atmosphere.

The Attractions Room: The main functions and conference room in the Grandstand is host to a mix of events, from talks and history presentations to rock music and music films and more "Community" Concerts.

The Racecourse Rooms: Each room or bar at the racecourse takes on an identity of its own, ranging from open music sessions, sessions by local and not-so-local folk clubs, The Westwood Sessions, comedy, drama, literature and more.

Children’s Marquee: Running a range of activities, including arts, crafts, music and storytelling, this venue ensures the festival is a family friendly event.

Festival Fringe: Several of the pubs in Beverley Town Centre schedule their own entertainment throughout the weekend to complement the official festival and dance troupes make their way to the Market Place and shopping areas to perform throughout the weekend.

Management

The festival is run on a not-for-profit basis and is managed by a board of volunteer directors. Other volunteers are also key to the festival, with dozens of people taking part as stewards, on the reception desk, directing parking, selling merchandise and as part of the recycling (Green) team, etc. Infrastructure is managed by Cornucopia Events with whom the festival has a very close and mutually helpful relationship.

2018 Cancellation

It was announced in April 2018 that this years festival would be cancelled [3], citing the loss of its primary source of funding as the reason for its cancellation. The company has been placed into immediate voluntary liquidation.

2018 Fringe Festival

Within hours of the news emerging of the cancellation of the festival, organisers involved in Fringe Festival events announced their intention to host an enlarged fringe to fill the void.

Reflecting very much the festival origins and roots, a reformed and expanded Fringe Festival will run over the planned three days with performances at venues including The Tiger, Sun Inn and Monks Walk public houses, Memorial Hall, East Riding Theatre, a well in and around the town centre [4].

References

  1. ↑ "Beverley Folk Festival, various venues". independent.co.uk. 8 June 2012.
  2. ↑ "Music festival moves to the Racecourse". beverleyracecourse.co.uk. 25 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "Long-running Beverley Folk Festival cancelled". bbc.co.uk/news. 23 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "Beverley Fringe Expands to fill Folk-Festival hole". justbeverley.co.uk. 30 May 2018.

Coordinates: 53°50′41″N 0°27′24″W / 53.84472°N 0.45667°W / 53.84472; -0.45667

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