Tenterden Folk Festival 2008
Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th October
October 2008 will see the 16th Tenterden Folk festival fill the town with traditional English folk song, music and dance as well as the popular craft fair, music fayre and street stalls.
Plans for the Festival are progressing well with funding and support having been confirmed by Tenterden Town Council, Ashford Borough Council and Kent County Council through the Members Grant scheme. Many venues have also been confirmed and we are now planning the individual events which will take place around the town centre, in the pubs, the Tenterden Club, the Assembly Rooms, the Kent and East Sussex Railway and other suitable halls.
One of the highlights of this year’s Festival is likely to be the special Sunday afternoon concert in The Tenterden Club which will feature two groups of popular young folk musicians.
The Askew Sisters are Emily and Hazel Askew from London, who like many of the young performers on today’s folk scene come from a family where their parents are very interested in folk music and took them to Sidmouth Festival when they were very young. They became members of the English Folk Dance and Song Society’s Hobby Horse Club and retained their interest and passion for folk song and dance into their teens and continued to attend summer schools and festivals as performers. When younger they learned a variety of instruments but now Emily plays fiddle and Hazel melodeon. The majority of their repertoire is English tunes and songs. Looking at their gig list for this year they seem to be appearing at most of season’s popular folk festival including Tenterden. www.askewsisters.co.uk
Mawkin are another very popular and busy young band comprising Dave Delarre (guitar) and his brother Jamie (fiddle), Danny Crump (bass guitar) and Alex Goldsmith (melodeon). Dave and Jamie also come from a folkie family who were involved in organising the Moreton Folk Festival. Their music is very upbeat and energetic played fast and for fun. Although they have been influenced by jazz, rock and funk they have also picked up much from traditional English folk musicians such as Johnny Cunningham, Andy Cutting and John Kirkpatrick. In the summer of 2006, Mawkin released their first full length album ‘The Fair Essex’ which received rave reviews. www.mawkin.co.uk
Both these groups should have wide appeal, not only to regular festival visitors but also to new audiences of all ages.
After the success of last year’s souvenir programme we are already accepting bookings for advertising in this year’s even bigger programme.
More details of Tenterden Folk Festival 2008 guests, accommodation and camping are now being posted on our website at www.tenterdenfolkfestival.org.uk.
To receive our regular email updates send an email to info_at_tenterdenfolkfestival_dot_org_dot_uk with "add to festival news list" in the subject box.
Alan Castle – Festival Director
29th February 2008
Alan Castle
Trustee and festival director
Tenterden Folk Festival
Tenterden Folk Day Trust (Registered charity No. 1038663)
Promoting folk song, music and dance
E: info_at_tenterdenfolkfestival_dot_org_dot_uk
W: www.tenterdenfolkfestival.org.uk
Folk Spots
E: alan_at_folkspots_dot_co_dot_uk
W: www.folkspots.co.uk