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[Thrupenny Bit]

I only managed to get down on the Tuesday after returning late from holidays and other home commitments prevailed for once. Did get a nice afternoon session in the Radway with local friends reinforced with Ian Dedic of this parish and Nick Barber of Tunebook fame turned up with his French Horn. Really tasty sesh..

I too noticed the absence of Black Diamond, which last year included Jon Loomes of this parish and his lovely collection of melodeons designed by him.
A friend noticed there were no stalls selling cd's and the only major box sellers were Squeezebox and Hobgoblin. I felt the music tent was sparsely populated this year sadly.

Gena, if you are wondering about workshops, have you considered the DG Melodeon weekend at Halsway Manor at the base of the Quantocks in Somerset?
I went for the first time last year, caught up with Helena and Julian from this parish.
It caters for beginners, intermediate and advanced players, you can either camp or stay in their accommodation and the food is wonderful! My non-playing wife accompanied me to get a weekend away and really enjoyed the break and walked up onto the Quantocks for stunning views.
I talked to several beginners who came from as far away as Norfolk and York. Their website will have  details, it might be an option for you.
Cheers
Q

[Rob Lands]

Did you not find the other music stalls in the Masonic Hall?

[Thrupenny Bit]

Yes I flipped in and out again. It looked like mainly guitars and fiddles.
The fiddle stall is run by someone who occasionally turns up at my session locally and is a superb fiddler.
The guitars were from a maker, presumably the stall holder and looked really good.
Just a shame I'm not a fiddler or guitarist!
Just around the corner someone had taken over the Methodist chapel and had some lovely guitars in there, including a very early Gibson, 1907 or 1912, finished in black with a gold trim on the edges.

I'm not sure if these are 'part of the festival'
I.e. venues booked by individuals to sell wares whilst the festival is running.
Whilst there's nothing wrong with that, the festival gains nothing from them.
Over the years there seems to be a mini culture of vendors such as the ones on the seafront or performers busking in the market square. They all cash in without giving anything to the festival coffers, and all festivals are run on a shoestring in reality.
But I might be wrong about the Masonic hall people, and if so apologise.
Q

[Winston Smith]

"Did you not find the other music stalls in the Masonic Hall?"

Maybe Q's handshake wasn't up to scratch?

[Tone Dumb Greg]

I'm not sure if these are 'part of the festival'
I.e. venues booked by individuals to sell wares whilst the festival is running.
Whilst there's nothing wrong with that, the festival gains nothing from them.
Over the years there seems to be a mini culture of vendors such as the ones on the seafront or performers busking in the market square. They all cash in without giving anything to the festival coffers, and all festivals are run on a shoestring in reality.
But I might be wrong about the Masonic hall people, and if so apologise.
Q

Not sure I agree with you on this. While buskers and impromtu performers may not contribute directly to the festival's they add an awful lot to the festivals entertainment value. The category you identify includes Buskers and various street entertainers, most morris sides present and the sessions, loved by all who attend them.

[Thrupenny Bit]

Over the years there has been an incredible increase in non-festival booked things.
Take the seafront for instance, the stall holders have appeared possibly since the new festival emerged from the ashes of the old international one. We have danced on the seafront since before I joined and first danced in 1978. We meet friends, renew old acquaintances and generally enjoy the spectavle of morris along the entire seafront.
Now we cannot dance without getting in the way of stallholders and the public who just want to walk along and take it all in. On occasiojs both get really rude, but the morris has danced there for possibly 50 years and is one of the best events for any morris side to come along and just dance.
The stall holders pay East Devon Dictrict Council for the pitch, nothing goes towards the festival.

Walking around there are a lot of amplified performers in places such as the Market Place, or to be more precisearound the corner from the Market Place. That is a venue used by the festival, so you can end up competing with amplified music which is a clash.
I notice a lot of pubs bringing in bands to play, so the festival goers struggle to find a pub for a session to play or sing.
Over the years it has always been a bone of contention. The town enjoys the profits made in festival week, though very few will contribute towards the running of the festival, and festivals across the country, from chat with friends, all seem to be struggling and just about keeping going.
Sorry to bang on, but having attended a meeting called by the mayor when the old festival died, it was writ large, the town enjoys the milk cow, but few will help it survive.
Q

[Winston Smith]

"Sorry to bang on, but having attended a meeting called by the mayor when the old festival died, it was writ large, the town enjoys the milk cow, but few will help it survive."

Surely it was always thus? After all, our hobbies are only our's, and any chancers are liable to try to "make hay whilst the sun shines", including local government (being determined to exercise some measure of control/charge over every aspect of life held in public).

[Thrupenny Bit]

yes it has always been thus, except I think now there is such an influx milking the cow, to use the expression, that the cow is starting to dry up.
Performers from the festival busk as part of their remit. Their collection goes towards the festival, and there's a small prize for those who've collected the most. Doing well in the league table of collections also is a badge of honour.
If the general public have already given to others then it inevitably affects the donations coming into the festival coffers from the public for the festival performers, and the public won't see any difference between putting money into a festival tin or into a busker's box.
Q

[Winston Smith]

Exactly!
And the remedy is with the local "authority" in banning such enterprise by the issuing of licences to only genuine festival people. They should revel in this approach, as they would be gaining yet more control, plus (of course) they could charge for such licences! Win, win, I should imagine.

[Thrupenny Bit]

well….. nice idea but I don't think it's that simple.
I don't think the buskers have or need a license, though the traders along the seafront do. That goes straight into East Devon DC as said, but seeing as they, like most other authorities, are strapped for cash, I don't begrudge it. They do mess up the dancing though!

Anyway, I seem to have inadvertently diverted the thread into something else. Apologies to the rest.
Let's get back to the festival comments from others...……
Cheers
Q

[Winston Smith]

I apologise for the drift.

[Thrupenny Bit]

no need.....just felt we've drifted apart, apart from the rest of the thread that is!
Q

[Henry Piper]

The influx of young talent was very obvious this year , I saw it at the Royal York and Falkner evening session which is now very much changed - I think the older generation has to find another venue and allow the natural evolution to take over. The young bands running the sessions were trying hard to find someone to sing between tunes - and it would be kinder to let it just be a music session - 8 till 11 each evening.

There is a big resurgence in musicality in the last decades - very handy for me who can't make dots into a tune - just find someone with an instrument case who seems at a loose end ask for a translation. Mind you - having heard it I can then start to play it - which does sometimes get me hard looks - but we all have our different talents.

That isn't entirely accurate Anne, I was involved as a "Token Musician" at two of the sessions, run By Alan Austen and Linda Smith, on the Friday and Wednesday. At Both There where plenty of Singers, and thanks to good organising by Alan and Linda All those who wanted too had an opportunity to sing, and I thought both were well balanced sessions giving equal status to both singers and musicians. I have to agree that  the standard of young musicians is excellent these days, and the young band that shared the evening with Alan and Linda on the Wednesday were Brilliant. I have to say However that this year, certainly in "Informal" sessions around the town there appeared to be far more musicians than singers of any age involved generally.