Festival Memories

What were the early days like of Warwick Folk Festival?

The camp site for Warwick Folk Festival was originally on what is now the car park for Myton Fields.  I remember we had 60 tents in the first year and a man from the council stood on the road bridge each morning to count the tents, requiring us to pay them £1.50 per tent!

I remember standing by the gate on Myton Road opposite Guy Nelson Hall during the festivals second year and thinking it would be a great place for a ceilidh. 

Warwick School was a different place in those days.  Like Eton it had an invisible fence around it and very little security.  I arranged to have a meeting with the Bursar at Warwick School, they were really eager to get involved with the local community, and that is when the relationship with Warwick School began.  What started with a Ceilidh at the school, expanded to include camping, with our third year holding both camping and ceilidh on site at Warwick School.  Our main music venue was the Lord Leycester Hotel on Jury Street.

Do you have a favourite memory of Warwick Folk Festival in the earlier days?

I remember Warwick School had an outdoor swimming pool which was heated and at nighttime the steam would rise off the water.  One evening, we had a ceilidh in the Guy Nelson Hall with the band Peeping Tom and Taffy Thomas as caller.  Just as it was getting dark, Taffy started a line-type-dance.  The band played as loud as possible, and we opened the side doors.  Taffy led the dance down to the swimming pool.  Seeing an opportunity, many people started to lose clothing items, and as they got to the pool dove in.  I was worried about Taffy – he was recovering from a stroke, so I stood at the pools edge to check on him to find he was having the best time! I remember feeling a foot on my back and next thing you know I was being pushed into the pool – I will never forget how warm the water was!  This became a tradition that carried on for many years!

How did the festival start?

I was in the background of Warwick Folk Festival in the early days.  It was created in January 1978 from the desire to celebrate folk in the local area.   The team explored Coventry, Southam, Kenilworth and Warwick as options, with Warwick coming out on top – with the thought that the racecourse could be used for camping.

We were quite ambitious at the start – with planning commencing in January, and the festival planned for July of the same year.  The team quickly discovered the ambitious plans were overly ambitious and decided to run the first festival 18 months later in July 1980. We organised the Staff and Castles Ceilidhs which we ran for 18 months in the Court House prior to the first festival

The folk scene in Warwick was quiet at the time, with the Warwick Folk Club only starting up a few years later at the Red Lion on Swan Street.  I had only just entered the folk scene myself, having joined the Coventry Mummers, and started the Coventry Traditional folk club with Maggie Coleman and Eddie Murphy.

Halfway through the first Ceilidh season, I was called on to do the bookings for the Ceilidhs bands and Callers for The Staff and Castle Ceilidhs, with Jim Brannagan booking the artists first Warwick Folk Festival.

Believe it or not, what is now a four-day extravaganza, started as a one day festival for the first year, turning into a two day festival in year two!

Which years changed Warwick or stood out as years in Warwick Folk Festivals history?

In 2009 the town council wanted to thank the festival for 30 years of support to the town. It revived the old tradition to have an Honorary freeman of Warwick and I received that award on behalf of the festival. I have just realised that was 15 years ago. We are now in our 45 year.

What’s been one of the most rewarding moments for you personally since starting Warwick Folk Festival?

Warwick been recognized as one of the main town festivals in the country.  I love the work we are able to do with the local communities, enabling it to be such a major event in the communities year.

In your opinion, what makes Warwick Folk Festival unique compared to other folk festivals in the UK?

Warwick is a family community lead festival where we are all volunteers, and no one gets paid, so we all work for the good of the festival and the town. We have had families attending for 45 years whose children have attended the festival. It is great to have a management team of people who attended the festival as babies and young children now serve as members our team.

What is your favourite place to be in Warwick Folk Festival?

The final concert on the Sunday night often brings a tear to my eye.  It is a lovely moment to reflect and see all the work the team has done, in order to produce another wonderful weekend of folk music and dance.  So my favourite place, is the final concert on the. Sunday night.