writerlywitterings

Another Folk Festival Gone

Posted by writerlywitterer on 25/08/2014 · 2 Comments 

It’s a serious shock when you sit down and realise another year’s gone.

The brilliant Lady Maisery

Only a little while ago I was sitting down and thinking this year I’ll take the boy onto the moors, sleep over under the stars, have a decent walk. Then again, he was determined to get me fit once more, so his New Year’s resolution was to make sure that I took him out on the pushbike more often. We could, he thought, go for a little ride. Unfortunately, my 10 year old’s view of a short ride and mine seem to be radically different. I was promising myself a good walk over the moors, and I thought I’d have time to catch up on my reading. There was so much to be done.

What have I achieved? Diddly, basically. My last book was a little late on deadline, so all through this summer I’ve been working my bits off, trying to get things done while children make a lot of noise all around me.

Hannah James dancing with Matt Gordon

Still, there have been some moments. I always insist on taking off the first weekend in August, because that is the Dartmoor Folk Festival, and for that weekend I indulge my every gluttonous desire for folk music, folk dancing and ale. Lots and lots of ale.

Dartmoor is a lovely little festival. It is small, with perhaps a thousand people coming along, and yet it always gains some of the best bands in the country. This year we had Lady Maisery, three lovely females with voices that meld perfectly; Matt Gordon and Leonard Podolak; the New Rope String Band; Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar and many more. A superb festival, put together with great skill.

But where, oh, where did my summer go?