Was it good for you?

No.

Far too many older people there, both in the audiences and in the line-ups. It mirrored the unequal balance of the population of the town that Sidmouth has throughout the rest of the year.

The people I most enjoyed seeing were The Devil's Interval, who were wonderful, as ever and Uiscedwr who took my breath away. Both acts should have been on in The Ham in the main evening slot. Jim Moray should have been there too, as should The Demon Barbers. Where was Seth Lakeman? Last year the town rocked to Seth's music and it was filled with young people.

Nothing wrong with older people, don't get me wrong, but along with the grey highlights Sidmouth badly needs far more blonde, red, purple and blue. It needs to update itself, like Moseley Festival, who mix all types of music up and bring in a far more diverse audience.

Sidmouth needs to stop living in the past and being 'our little festival' and it needs to concentrate urgently on offering far more for younger people.

The craft tent was so smelly you could barely go in it and it was filled with many of the same traders that are there year, after year, after year. There wasn't enough for children at the festival either, it would be far better to have the craft tent elsewhere and the whole of Blackmore Gardens given over completely to children's entertainers and entertainment.

And talking of entertainment, where were The Chipolatas?

Good to see so many morris teams though, I did enjoy those very much.

The Ham Marquee needs looking at though. This year apart from anything else, it was hot, uncomfortable and decidely smelly. The straw that some bright spark had decided to put down over the mud attracted all the flies which were buzzing round about happily. When I pay £15 and upwards for tickets I do expect to sit or stand in a relatively pleasant place.

Why is there never any dancing or even standing allowed in The Ham? It seems to me that there's just row upon row of chairs filled with serious faced folkies who don't even have the good grace to smile at the performers and let them know they're enjoying themselves. Compare this to a Seth Lakeman concert or Demon Barbers one, where the audience simply HAS to dance, where they break 'the rules' and just stand up and shimmy, far more enjoyable. Maybe they need far less seats and a big area for people to stand up/dance in.

Here's a copy of the message I left in the Jim Moray thread, just in case anyone from Sidmouth Fuddy Duddy Folk Week may be listening. I've put it in here because I think it's important, even if they don't.





- I wouldn't like to gauge how much he actually needs the ever-so belated approval of 'the f*lk world' who back then wanted him burned as their very own wicker man. -

-------Dear lady from Frollocks,

Jim would appear to suffer from the same 'Wicker Man' trouble as Show of Hands do, from things I've read. How strange those things were written by you.

For the second year running now Jim Moray has not been at Sidmouth despite him being -at- Sidmouth as a spectator. I found this bizarre, as his sister Jackie Oates was there, as she was last year, as was Jim Causley and The Devil's Interval, Jon Boden, John Spiers, Eliza and Mawkin. Don't get me wrong, it was wonderful to see all of them there again, but it wasn't wonderful to feel that Jim Moray had been overlooked once more.

Has Jim upset the people who run Sidmouth? He would have brought in many young people to the town and that is something that Sidmouth Folk Week needs very badly.

Where were The Demon Barbers also? Yet again they were not at Sidmouth and yet they brought in a huge audience last time they were there two years ago.

It really is time that these grey bearded geography teachers, who sadly seem to dominate many festivals, got a grip on how the folk world is changing, and that young, vibrant and innovative acts such as Jim Moray and The Demon Barbers are setting it alight and working very hard to make folk music inspirational once more.

I'll put this in the Sidmouth thread too I think, just in case any of the grey bearded geography teachers are reading it. --------------