Hi folks.
Hope you don't think I have been presumptuous by starting this thread. I do have Caths' blessing to do so and somebody had to do it!It's now time to clear the decks and now focus completely on next years Festival.

Check the "HOLMFIRTH FESTIVAL OF FOLK TWO" thread for previous discussions leading up to this thread.
Some of the topics discussed there and carried forward here were :

* Title of festival : "The Peoples Festival" has been proposed as an alternative title. I strongly disagree and believe it should stay as "THE HOLMFIRTH FESTIVAL OF FOLK". This is a Festival held in Holmfirth, which works exceptionally well in Holmfirth, so it must remain firmly linked to Holmfirth.

* Date/timing of Festival : There has been some discussion about possibly changing the dates of the festival. I strongly disagree and believe it should stay as the weekend following the May Day weekend. This would put it on 4th,5th and 6th of May in 2007.
Many people will already have put these dates in their diary for next year and it would be great folly to change the dates now.
Confirmation of these dates should be made and announced as soon as possible.

* Split between organisers : Without going into too much detail this years committee was a bunch of brave and determined individuals who volunteered to step into the breech when previous organisers decided not to run a festival this year.
This has resulted in some politicking and mischief with the previous organisers now proposing running a folk festival on a green-field site in Shepley next year. Dates not yet confirmed but I would very much doubt if they would run this on the same weekend or even too close to this weekend as it would be commercial suicide.
The costs of setting up a dedicated green-field site will be massive and will require top billing artists to bring in the paying punters.
I don't believe in mixing politics with what should be a happy, relaxed and enjoyable event that benifits the community of Holmfirth so why don't organisers of this and last years festival just bury the hatchett and come together and work together.
Let's see what happens!
Either way there will definately be an Holmfirth Festival of Folk in the village of Holmfirth in 2007.

* Should we have a food/late session tent on the campsite? I think we should but it all needs to be costed out to see if we can afford it. Some of the best late night sessions I have been to have been in such tents (especially when you are joined by the the paid guest artists when they roll out from the concerts)and we all need some scoff to soak up the beer and get a greasy breakfast to prepare us for the day ahead.

* Offers of help! If you want to help next years festival go swimmingly please volunteer your services now. In whatever capacity you can help let us know so we can start to plan and spread the load.

These thoughts have not been aired yet on the previous thread but I would like to air them here:

* Shall we be using The Civic Centre and Cragrats etc in 2007 ?
I really do think that we need to spread/extend the venues.
This does not imply anything against The Picturedrome, far from it.
Without The Picture Drome this year there would have been nothing to hang a festival on to. Peter was one very brave chap who booked a fantastic line up of great artists before he even knew there was going to be a festival. Without The Picture Drome it would not have worked. But you can't put all your eggs in one basket, that is dangerous both commercially and in terms of control/power.
This year we had a truly great Fringe Festival attached to The Picture Drome. Next year we need to put as much focus on the concert goers as the wonderful fringe element. We need to book the Civic and put on extra concerts/workshops and also hold the Ceilidhs (or however you spell it!) I want to see the Picture Drome full to capacity but you can't have a festival revolving around just one venue.

* Concert/Season tickets : We did'nt have them this year and I think we missed out. What we definately need is ONE port of call for booking camping and concert/ ceilidhs/workshops etc. It doesn't work as well when people have to phone more than one contact point. This is strange and awkward to most festival goers. We need one port of call which should be the festival office and not the likes of Tourist Information etc (bless them).
Every festival has season ticket holders and you ignore them at your peril.

* I am willing to put myself forward to be on the committee next year, should I be accepted! My contribution would be especially in management and marketing.
But what I would point out is the fact that the Chief Steward position is vital to a succesful Festival and one that must be an essential part of the committee. To demote this role to the sidelines is both naive and a mistake. He/She marshalls the rest of the stewards and without them it won't work.

* The car park arrangements and access to the campsite this year was organised with good intentions but failed (including access to water). I'm a very placid and accomodating but it could have been a nightmare . So more forward planning next year!

All in all this years festival was absolutely brilliant so I 'aint complaining.
Let's make sure the 2007 Festival is just as good or better.

let's have your thoughts about how we can make it better !

All contributions welcome.