Festival promises a weekend of folk, food and fun

All roads lead to Dartmoor on 23- 25 October, when one of the country’s best loved folk festivals hits the streets, halls and pubs of Okehampton.

The 17th Baring-Gould Weekend, organised by Okehampton-based music charity Wren Music, combines intimate concerts by established acts alongside community orchestras and choirs, impromptu street performances, dancing, and plenty of local food and drink.

It’ll be an extra special occasion Paul Wilson and Marilyn Tucker, who founded Wren Music 32 years ago. Paul and Marilyn, who’ll be performing at the festival, have just learnt that they’re to be presented this year with a prestigious Gold Badge from English Folk Dance and Song Society in recognition of their work for traditional music.

The Gold Badge was created in 1922 and is given to those who have made “unique or outstanding contributions” – some 150 people have received the honour in its 93 years, making it a ‘who’s who’ of traditional UK folk music.

“It’s a real honour,” said Marilyn. “They don’t hand out the awards readily. The other two recipients this year are John Tams (singer songwriter and actor) and Ian Anderson (musician and editor of fRoots magazine). So and we’re in some pretty good company.”

Paul and Marilyn haven’t had time to celebrate news of the award yet as they’ve been busy preparing for their biggest event of the year, the Baring-Gould Weekend.
Headliners Lady Maisery help to kick off the weekend at the Opening Concert at Charter Hall at 7.30pm on Friday 23 October. The harmony trio’s debut album, Weave and Spin, lead to their nomination in the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Horizon category for best newcomers.

The trio – Hazel Askew, Hannah James and Rowan Rheingans – play several instruments between them. Londoner Hazel, who plays harp and concertina, said: “The weekend is all about participation which is great because that’s something we’re quite passionate about. We enjoy this sort of intimate setting. It creates a very special atmosphere and that’s something we’re looking forward to.”

Scottish singer-songwriter Janet Russell and members of the Wren Band will also be performing at the Opening Concert and festival-goers will have further opportunities to see the headline acts at events throughout the weekend.

For well-known West Country musician and singer-songwriter Geoff Lakeman, the festival is the equivalent of a home game as he lives just a few miles down the road in West Devon. Geoff is playing on Saturday afternoon and giving a demonstration of his rare Duet Concertina on Sunday afternoon.

Geoff has seen his sons Seth, Sean and Sam achieve huge success at the forefront of the English folk revival of recent years but their musical education started at home in the family band with Geoff and their mum, Joy. Now the roles have been reversed with the boys encouraging their dad to “get out there and play”.

Geoff’s set will include rural protest songs that will resonate with many festival-goers. He’ll be singing his self-penned Tie ‘em Up, lamenting the plight of fishermen, and Farmers Song, written by fellow Cornishman Roger Bryant about the low prices which are driving famers to sell up: “I’m a Cornishman living in Devon and I do songs with big West Country themes,” said Geoff.

“I sing a lot of the old tin mine protest songs too but they’re gone. The problems facing fishing and farming are ongoing so now is the time to be singing about them. Music and song is a powerful tool. I describe Tie ‘em Up as a West Country shanty. There’s a line that says ‘better selling up than tying up’ and when I do it at places like Newlyn, Looe and Brixham, it goes down a storm. Farming, fishing, the countryside, the sea – that’s what the West Country is all about so I think these themes will go down well at the festival.”

Other weekend highlights are renowned guitarist and folk singer Chris Foster and English bagpipe exponent David Faulkner.

The concerts take place at venues throughout the town. All are in intimate settings, giving audiences an ‘up close and personal’ concert experience. The streets will be alive with music, too – Wreckers Morris and Tinners Morris will be dancing in the town and expect a few impromptu performances by members of Wren Music.

Nick Wyke from Wren said the quality and variety of the line-up had sparked interest from across the country as well as locally: “To have all these artists in one place is great,” he said. “A lot of people have bought weekend tickets so Okehampton is going to be buzzing. But people can also book tickets for each show so they can pick and choose.”

There are also opportunities for festival-goers to get involved. Nick explained: “There are a huge number of sessions where people can take part. We’ll be having a festival choir and a festival orchestra that anyone can just turn up and join. There are a couple of sessions on Saturday and Sunday mornings with star tutors and they’ll get to do a short performance at the Farewell Concert on Sunday.”

But the weekend is more than just a folk festival. Locally sourced food and drink play a big part throughout the event, which includes a Festival Feast: “We’ve got a local chef, Patrick Carter, cooking for us this year,” said Nick. “Patrick has his own smokehouse and he’ll be making dishes using local meats and there’s a delicious smoked aubergine dish for vegetarians. Local food and drink is part and parcel of the weekend and we’d encourage people to come along and tuck in!”

The festival also has a strong family flavour. Sunday is packed with events, including the annual conker competition and a family ceilidh.

Nick says this year’s festival promises to be one of the busiest yet: “The atmosphere around the town during the weekend is brilliant. We can’t wait now for it now, it’s going to be great fun.”

For the full programme of concerts and venues and ticket information including special weekend and family tickets, visit the Baring-Gould Weekend website. Or contact Wren Music on 01837 53754. www.baring-gould.co.uk