Towersey Festival

Towersey Festival is an annual festival of folk, world music and traditional dance, previously held in the village of Towersey, now relocated^[1] to Thame in Oxfordshire, England. It has taken place every August bank holiday weekend since its founding in 1965.

History

The festival set out as a fundraising event to rescue the decaying Towersey Village Memorial Hall – a building that commemorated the 14 men who had lost their lives in the First World War. In that first year (1965), it was a one-day village fete with morris dancing and a folk singing session in the pub barn. Its success can be measured by the money raised, the enjoyment of the day by the village residents and visitors, and by the fact that, in the following year, a three-day event was held^[2].

The festival attracts approximately 10,000 people each year although the 2004 event (26 to 30 August) attracted much higher numbers than ever before. This is partly due to that year being the festival's 40th anniversary.

The venues/ stages in which festival activities take place include The Big Club (formerly known as the Concert Tent); The Festival Dance House (FDH); The Festival Green (formerly known as The Market Square and the Arena); and Venue 65 ^[3]. Other features include The Den (for storytelling and spoken word), the craft tent and the craft market, Creative Quarter and dedicated areas for children (5-11yrs) and youth (11yrs+).

Regular performers at Towersey include Roy Bailey and Les Barker. The latter made a live recording there in 1995 while Roy released Live at Towersey Festival 2015 during 2016^[4]. A Towersey Festival Patron, Roy performed at the very first festival, and his annual Monday afternoon concerts are greeted by capacity crowds. The Unthanks and John Spiers and Jon Boden had successful performances there in their early careers, while Eliza Carthy played her first solo show at the festival. Eliza said: "Towersey gave me my first ever solo gig ... and one of the most memorable gigs of my life; a Chipolata 5 gig so full and rowdy that they had to take the sides of the marquee down." ^[5]

Discussing the festival’s appeal and longevity, Festival Patron Roy Bailey states: “Children play safely and many lifelong friendships have been developed here. People met here and got married here and generations of families return every year.”^[6]

The festival's 50th anniversary in 2014 was headlined by Richard Thompson^[7]. The anniversary was also marked by the publication of a book, Towersey Festival: 50 Years In The Making which explored the 50 year history of the festival, from its inception to present day. ^[8]

Since 2015, the festival has been based at Thame Showground. ^[9]

Recent Headliners

2012: The South, Bellowhead, Nic Jones, Edward II, Kathryn Tickell, The Albion Band ^[10]

2013: The Blockheads, The Unthanks, Show Of Hands, Home Service, Eliza and Martin Carthy ^[11]

2014: Topic Records 75th Anniversary Concert (featuring Norma Waterson, Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy and guests), The Bootleg Beatles, Richard Thompson, Seth Lakeman, Lau, Conservatoire Folk Ensemble ^[12]

2015: Bellowhead, Stornoway, Joan Armatrading, Show Of Hands, Simpson Cutting and Kerr ^[13]

2016: Billy Bragg, Kate Rusby, The Wonder Stuff, Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, 9 Bach, Midge Ure, Tom Robinson, The Young'Uns ^[14]

2017: Jon Boden, KT Tunstall, Eliza Carthy and The Wayward Band, Newton Faulkner, Show Of Hands, Lindisfarne, Demon Barbers XL, Coope Boyes and Simpson ^[15]

2018: The Shires, The Proclaimers, Richard Thompson Electric Trio, Beth Orton, Big Country, Sharon Shannon Band, Fisherman's Friends, Blair Dunlop, Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, Peter Knight and John Spiers^{[16] [17]}

Towersey Traditions

There is an old tradition that on the last night of the festival a lot of the men dress up as women. The tradition of 'dress up Sunday' started in 1990 with a hen party for a Towersey regular. Due to the lack of female friends attending, the bride agreed that men could come if they dressed appropriately. This led to at least 15 men in skirts and dresses, can-canning across the pub car park on the Sunday evening.

The following year, the bride and groom held a Sunday afternoon cocktail party where guests had been asked to wear their wedding outfits. This was followed by the usual Sunday evening session in the Barn. This was repeated in following years and evolved into 'Dress Up Sunday'. Cross dressing is not obligatory but can add to the fun.

The bride still attends the festival regularly as a steward.

Other Towersey traditions include Roy Bailey's Monday afternoon concert, in The Big Club, which features invited and special guests, and a Festival Finale singalong in Venue 65 whereby the closing act leads the audience in a rendition of Hey Jude by The Beatles^[18].

Monday evening also sees the festival's traditional Lantern Parade^[19]. The lanterns are made by members of the audience over the duration of the festival.

Towersey Releases

The festival has released three compilation albums to date. The first was released in 1969, featuring acts recorded live at the 1968 festival, while the next two included (mostly) studio recordings of artists due to appear at the festival that year, and were released via digital distribution platform NoiseTrade.

• Festival at Towersey (Zeus 1969), 10-track vinyl album featuring John Kirkpatrick, The Yetties, Bob Grant and John Graham, Brian Perrett and Dennis Manners.^[20]

• Towersey Festival 2015 (NoiseTrade, 2015), free 18 track digital download featuring Kim Churchill, Keston Cobblers' Club, Chris While and Julie matthews, Ninebarrow, The Askew Sisters, Roy Bailey Martin Simpson and Andy Cutting^[21]

• Towersey Festival 2016 (NoiseTrade, 2016), free 18 track digital download featuring The Young'uns, Nizlopi, Rory McLeod, Roy Bailey, The Urban Folk Quartet^{[22] [23]}

References

External links

• Towersey Village Festival
• Mrs Casey Music – organisers of the festival