Subject: RE: Sidmouth, young and old: a concern: From: Phil Edwards : Date: 13 Oct 14 - 05:08 PM
If your interest is in the traditional side and you want more participation why not go to some "song and ale" style festivals to get yourself more well known and get the feel of things a bit more?
Such as?.... What else is there like that?

Not all of these might be to your taste Phil but here are some links.
I've only been once but Whittlebury Song and Ale had good singers and retains a good reputation.
The Wail has a weekend of unaccompanied singing and a midnight, mediaeval feast in a very lighthearted context.
Pennymoor Song and Ale is music and song. It's organised by the same people who run the Bampton After the Fair weekend of free song and music sessions (in the Devon Bampton, not the Oxfordshire one).
I've not been to the Sussex song and Ale but know many who do go and speak highly of it.

There are many more that I haven't the patience to find links to. Some are more "anything goes" but some are very much "in the tradition." I know there is at least one in Yorkshire around the Sheffield area which has some singers who I rate highly but I don't remember the details they gave me as it was too far to travel.

The best tactic for getting to know seems to be to go to as many "tradition based" singarounds as possible and ask the best singers if they know of anything. If they like your own singing they may tell you! (Perhaps that's why I can only come up with a few despite knowing there are others out there that people won't tell me the details for!)