Weymouth pub sessions and pub singarounds continue to be successful at Dorset's Wessex Folk festival 2009

Many folk festival devotees see folk music sessions and folk song singarounds as being at the heart of any good folk music festival and the Wessex Folk Festival committee is particularly keen to enable amateur musicians and singers or even professional musicians and singers resting between acts to enjoy some home spun music in a relaxed pub setting.

Weymouth is particularly well served by pubs ideal for musicians and singers sessions and singarounds.

The Kings Arms in Trinity Road is always popular for the Irish or Celtic sessions and this year also hosted a shanty session and a music and song session that seemed much enjoyed.

The Excise House hosted a half speed Irish Session and a lot of tunes that were definitely nothing like half-speed with expert contributions from both Old Rooms Stage and Hope Square Stage performers taking some time out.

The Sailors Return on the other side of Town Bridge in Nicholas Street, Weymouth is the home of the regular Wednesday sessions and was host over the weekend to a variety of festival sessions varying from a Bluegrass Session with Nigel Cantor for musicians to a Gentle Song Session for singers with Dawn Harris and friends.

Roger and Jo Quigley with many supporting friends hosted the all important Survivors Session that always rounds off the weekend perfectly.

If sessions and singarounds truly are the heart of a good folk festival, thanks to the many hard working session organisers, musicians, singers and pubs where the sessions and singarounds were hosted, there can be little doubt that Wessex Folk Festival 2009 was a festival with a huge heart.

Were you there? Did you enjoy a session or a singaround at the Wessex Folk Festival 2009? What was memorable for you? We would love to hear from you in the comments below :-)

Bye for now

Dave
Dave Milner - Wessex Folk Festival Committee

Extra free stage opposite The Old Rooms Inn, Trinity Road, Weymouth proves popular at Wessex Folk festival 2009

The decision to expand the number of free performance stages with an additional stage opposite The Old Rooms Inn at the end of Trinity Road proved popular with the public. Sometimes there were as many watching the bands on the Old Rooms Inn stage as there were watching performances on the main Hope Square stage.

Particularly popular were Stampede, the well loved local Appalachian dance company who do such a lot of good work collecting for charity with their song and clog dancing routines, but lots of other acts drew really good crowds who stayed and watched despite there not being much opportunity for seating close to the stage.

Were you there? Did you like the extra stage? Which were your favourite bands? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below :-)

Bye for now

Dave

Dave Milner- Wessex Folk Festival Committee

Martin Carthy, Mike Waterson & Chris Parkinson's passion & humour was greatly enjoyed at Wessex Folk Festival's 2009 Saturday evening concert

The well loved passion and humour of Martin Carthy, Mike Waterson & Chris Parkinson enthused the audience at Hope Church, Weymouth, Dorset for the main act of the Wessex Folk Festival 2009 Saturday evening concert after an entertaining medley of songs from Two Peas, a pair of flighty females with rather menacingly squeaky truncheons (Pat Green and Pauline Clenshaw).

Norma Waterson, previously billed for this concert, unfortunately was not very well and was unable to appear at the festival. However, Martin Carthy and Chris Parkinson were joined by Mike Waterson for the concert in Hope Church on Saturday 6 June. It was a wonderful concert and a rare opportunity to see Mike Waterson in Weymouth. We all at Wessex Folk Festival wish Norma a very speedy recovery.

Two Peas, Pat Green and Pauline Clenshaw's special brand of gutsy songs, with humour and heart, are well known on the local Weymouth folk music circuits and both were also heavy involved in the organisation of the Wessex Folk Festival 2009. Doubtless, their cheerful charm contributed greatly to the smooth running of the festival - if not then the mere sight of those squeaky truncheons was bound to maintain order!


More memories of the Wessex Folk Festival will be uploaded in the following days :-)

Were you there? What did you think? We would love to know. Simply add your comments below.

Bye for now

Dave

Dave Milner - Wessex Folk Festival Committee

Martin Simpson Trio concert, Hope Church, Weymouth received rapturous applause from a packed audience at Wessex Folk Festival 2009

The Martin Simpson Trio (Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting & Andy Seward) set the standard for what was to prove a vintage Wessex Folk Festival weekend in Hope Church, Hope Square, Weymouth, Dorset last Friday (5th June 2009) with their fine musicianship and singing rewarded with rapturous and well deserved applause from a packed audience.

Like a sip of fine wine, the Friday evening concert gave a taste of the musical feast that was to follow over the rest of the weekend and which was to brew the Wessex Folk Festival 2009 into a truly vintage folk festival and possibly the most successful ever for the Wessex Folk Festival Committee and their enthusiastic and hard working band of volunteers.

Over the next few days, we will be documenting the dancers, fine musicians, singers, buskers and other performers that contributed to making the Wessex Folk Festival 2009 memorable so be sure to keep in touch and come back often.

Were you there? We would love to hear from you about your experiences.

Bye for now

Dave

Dave Milner- Wessex Folk Festival Committee

Old Rooms Inn stage Trinity Road photo slide show Wessex Folk Festival 2009

Here is a photo slide show of the Old Rooms Inn stage at the bottom of Trinity Road, Weymouth, Dorset.

This was a new stage introduced as an experiment for the Wessex Folk Festival 2009 which certainly proved successful and sometimes had equal audience numbers as the main stage in Hope Square.




Did you enjoy the Old Rooms Inn stage at the bottom of Trinity Road? What did you think? We'd love to know through the comments section below :-)

Bye for now

Dave

Dave ~Milner- Wessex Folk Festival Committee

Hope Square, Weymouth Main Stage Acts - Wessex Folk Festival 2009

Here is a photo documentary of stage shows that were enjoyed by visitors to Wessex Folk Festival 2009 in Hope Square, Weymouth, Dorset.

There was an amazing continental ambiance despite the grim weather warnings of heavy rain. Fortunately, the rain didn't arrive until early evening.




Were you there? What did you think? We'd love to know in the comments section below.

Bye for now

Dave

dave Milner - Wessex Folk Festival Committee

Street shows at Wessex Folk Festival 2009

Street performances slideshow at Wessex Folk Festival 2009



There were a magnificent number of street shows at Wessex Folk Festival 2009 with lots of great Morris dancing sides, a balancing and juggling act, a busker and a folk history caravan. This photo slideshow gives some idea of the great variety of events enjoyed.

Did you enjoy the street acts? What did you think? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below.

Bye for now

Dave

Dave Milner - Wessex Folk Festival Committee