Whitby Folk Week 2016

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: Howard Jones
Date: 26 Aug 16 - 07:42 AM

I had a good couple of days at Whitby and really enjoyed playing with Albireo at the late night ceilidh on Wednesday. I went to a couple of good concerts. However (as usual) I failed utterly to find any sessions, with the exceptions of the Melnet gathering and the Euro session, both of which had been publicised in advance on Melnet.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: Jack Campin
Date: 27 Aug 16 - 05:39 AM

1pm and 5pm sessions are listed in the FF events Schedule. There are at least three of each simultaneously. Night fringe sessions at the Elsinore, Board, Ship, Station, Golden Lion, Fleece and Middle Earth. Sporadic afternoon sessions at some of those and also at the Black Horse. Singing at night in the Station front room and singing and shanty-bellowing at the Endeavour afternoon and evening. How did you miss all that?

You will have seen me at the Eurosession - the one with all the wind instruments.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: Mo the caller
Date: 29 Aug 16 - 04:35 PM

There was a 5.30 session in the Spa upstairs bar this year - much easier for dancers than walking across to the Middle Earth or Fisherman's and then back to the Spa. (Limited time to eat - but there was the Spa cafe)

Other than one afternoon when I stayed in the middle Earth all afternoon (very pleasant - I had intented to go to the Euro, but it was pelting down) I stuck to the programmed sessions, quite a variety of types of tune and styles of leading.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: Jack Campin
Date: 29 Aug 16 - 06:28 PM

And I didn't see you at all this year.

It seems like Folk Week is fracturing into two festivals, dance stuff round the Spa and everything else in or near the town. The Whitby Gazette had an article on Saturday saying the the whole of the Spa had been allocated to Folk Week, whereas the Regatta would ordinarily have used it at the weekend. I went to two events at the Spa but as we always stay in the town centre it's usually too far to go. Wasn't too pleased that the festival office had been moved out there - I only went to it once, to drop off some flyers for the flat key session.

There's not much wrong with the Spa as a venue apart from its bar prices, but it's inconvenient unless you're staying at the West Cliff campsite.

BTW the Fishermen's Football Club (which I hadn't been into until this year) is a rather good venue.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: Mo the caller
Date: 30 Aug 16 - 03:51 AM

I saw you in a couple of sessions.
Someone was saying there aren't as many dancers.I think those there are pace themselves - either dance workshops then an evening concert or what I did - other events e.g. story telling, singing, session, half a concert, session, then dance at night.
But in the 80s when we started coming there were enough dancers to fill at least 2 dances in Whitby plus an out-of-town dance at Ruswarp, Sleights or Robin Hoods Bay.
Was saying to my daughter, there are so many Whitbys going on, almost independent of each other.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: Howard Jones
Date: 30 Aug 16 - 04:51 AM

Jack, I was only there for two days. I arrived mid-afternoon on Wednesday, too late for Ollie King's session, and had a sound-check at 4:30 so not much time to go looking for something else. After sound-checking and getting something to eat I went looking but all I found was an Irish session, and I don't play Irish. I took your advice to check the Elsinore but only found a rock-and-roll band in there. I went home late Thursday afternoon.

I don't find the programme very helpful as it only says "Music Session" without indicating what flavour of music to expect. I was able to work out from the session leaders that one of the Thursday sessions was going to be Irish. I couldn't find the leaders of the other session in the programme (I only realised afterwards that the guest list in the programme is broken down into sections rather than being in alphabetical order) so I had no idea what that would be like.

I had absolutely no luck finding any spontaneous sessions, other than than the aforementioned Irish one, but as I've said before I don't really know where to look.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: GUEST
Date: 31 Aug 16 - 03:09 AM

Simple. Look for a building calling itself a pub (Wikipedia has photos of typical pubs to assist you) and walk in any time after lunch till around 1.00am.

If it is in Whitby, during the folk week, you will find a session or singaround. Double so if the official programme doesn't mention it.

Our problems were more of finding one not too crowded so we could get a few instruments sat with us.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: slaggyislander
Date: 31 Aug 16 - 07:58 AM

I followed the simple logic that the guest above advises and popped in (and stayed for the night) to the first hostelry that was displaying a Tetley sign outside - the Golden Lion. For non-specialists such as I it provided the perfect mix of contemporary (all sorts) in the front room and traditional in the back. The atmosphere and craic were good, the beer went down well and it was a good night. Hadn't been in that pub for about 40 years and felt strangely at home. I, for one, will be back.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: GUEST,Peter
Date: 31 Aug 16 - 10:10 AM

Interesting news from the unnamed guest that every single pub in the town had sessions. I thought that Sam Smiths still banned music throughout their estate including their pubs in Whitby.

Howard has a point about the official sessions although, given their free form nature I don't know how much influence the session leader will have.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 31 Aug 16 - 03:32 PM

The Fishermen's Football Club is a new venue
The numbers are often down, in years where the Regatta, and Folk Week clash.
The previous location of the office in the Leisure Centre, was no further away from the town centre than the Spa.
As someone who stewards every year, let me tell you that the new ticketing system is far better than that which preceded it.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 31 Aug 16 - 04:07 PM

The session leaders both booked and fringe are generally happy for anyone to start up a tune when there is a lull. You go to a session where the expected norm is wall-to-wall Irish reels but there are plenty of opportunities to start up slower tunes and tunes from other places as often happens. As already stated the main problem is getting a seat or even getting in. Here the main remedy is get there early or wait around till someone leaves.

Personally I prefer music sessions as you can join in with most tunes, but when I went to the Station one evening to meet up with old friends all 3 singing sessions were full up, well established and not looking like anyone would be leaving. If you are new to Whitby I recommend you leave your instrument at home for the first couple of days and go on a pub crawl to see what happens in all of the pubs. Someone posted a list of all the pubs where it happens not so long back.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 01 Sep 16 - 09:10 PM

Only my second Whitby, so not yet au fait with the various fringe pub sessions, or even where they are! (Official venues are on the maps in the programme.)
Didn't find the timing of official sessions awfully good: most days I was in a workshop for most of the 1.00. - 3.00. sessions. Then we never got to do a whole 5.00. - 7.00. one as we had to break off to eat before 7.30.pm concerts. Something between 3.00. - 5.00.might have been better.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Sep 16 - 08:02 AM

"Every pub in town". Or any other of my comments. I suppose this is why some of us prefer to stay anonymous. It gets rather infuriating when general chat comments are taken literally. Not everybody can have social skills I suppose.

Every pub except those that didn't, which were rather few and far between but did exist. Not everybody in Whitby that week had beards or ethnic skirts. 🙄

Anyway, everyone I met seemed to be enjoying themselves. Can't wait till next year really. (The bacon & egg butties served at The Rugby Club in the mornings deserve as much a special mention as some of the pubs.) 🐷🐔🍞

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: GUEST,alex s no cookie
Date: 02 Sep 16 - 08:20 AM

"The sort of people over here, who go to Whitby once a year, won't pay to see a guest, won't buy a ticket won't support local clubs unless they get to sing on the night, they won't learn new songs or in some cases even the words and read them of a typed script. They won't even listen to each other properly, they just want to sing their song and play their guitar and get applause."

Bang on, Katy from Burnley.
This is exactly why the standard of performance in clubs has deteriorated, audience numbers are declining and fewer well-known guests are being booked.
We also have the new(ish) phenomenon of people reading from books! Recently we were "treated" to a bit from The Wind in the Willows...
Oh dear.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 02 Sep 16 - 11:07 AM

What's great about Whitby, Alex, is there are so many singarounds and sessions that you can always up sticks and move on if you come across these sort of people.

When I went to Whitby for the full week, quite a while ago now, one of the things I used to run was a 'squeezaround', sort of a cross between a singaround and a session. We went round the room just like a singaround and each person in turn who could, played their party piece on their squeezebox and then led a general set for all to join in with. It seemed to work well.

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: Jack Campin
Date: 02 Sep 16 - 04:20 PM

The sort of people over here, who go to Whitby once a year, won't pay to see a guest, won't buy a ticket won't support local clubs unless they get to sing on the night, they won't learn new songs or in some cases even the words and read them of a typed script.

The only people I saw reading from a sheet of paper at Whitby this year were some of the singers at the Songs of Child Migration concert. None of the session players did. Not memorizing your material seemed to be exclusively a professional thing.

And if the people Katy was writing about were willing to travel from Burnley to Whitby to find the music they wanted, it looks like the clubs in Burnley weren't meeting their needs. Is there a problem with that?

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: GUEST,Bloke in .. Musketish
Date: 03 Sep 16 - 04:31 AM

I must admit, each to their own. Not sure about the comments over how things are "becoming" though.

Back in the day, Whitby week was one of the few places where I used to experience "singarounds" and I reckon it was there circa 1982 where I saw for the first time someone using a book to sing from rather than actually learning the words and trying to do the song "their" way.

Hitherto, my folk club world had been concert style upstairs rooms in pubs. Nowadays it's all singaround. Our local club was too till recently when we decided to make it more of "stage" and audience. The result? Standing room only and lots of people just coming to sit and listen.

Not that a Whitby thread is the place to reignite that old chestnut of crib sheets and laziness...😎

Subject: RE: Whitby Folk Week 2016
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 03 Sep 16 - 04:51 AM

It could be Jack, as I suggested earlier, it was any excuse for a week at the seaside. Nowt wrong with that.