Mary, there's a link to the NOMAD schedule grid in the previous "Who's coming to NOMAD" thread.

Impossibly full schedule. You could say that they hold two simultaneous festivals, one of music and one of dance. One of the joys of this festival is that you can see or participate in so many different kinds of dancing -- if you can tear yourself away from the music. And in the halls and in the cafeteria, you will see many folks in various kinds of dance costume as well as hearing people either jamming, or practicing for their next workshop or concert. It's very lively and visually beautiful as well as great music.

The D.C. contingent is indeed very noticeable, Barbara, but I think you'd find the same thing at any festival on the East Coast and at quite a few in the British Isles as well! Have often felt grateful to live in an area and be part of a community with so many wonderful folk musicians, who are so very knowledgeable and talented and willing to share.

Most of the workshops are NOT participatory, but Lorraine and I counted about six song swaps and there were several official jams and dozens of unofficial ones. There was a Shanty Blast led by "for all who can," which apparently meant that if you were a performer at NOMAD, were free at the scheduled time, and knew a few shanties, you could join the group leading it. And, they invited folks in the audience to lead a song.

The Sunday morning sing-around, led by Kathy Westra, was just as fine as could be. It was held in the cafeteria, which has nice resonant acoustics for chorus songs. Almost every song was a treat to hear and join in.

I tended to focus on workshops given by the Washington contingent and other friends this year although that was difficult when they were scheduled opposite each other as often happened.

In the workshops, my favorites were: The Patons with Dan Milner and special guest, Sandy Paton's hobo songs with special guests, and the Patons' concert.... Well, it's true. Each of these sessions was great from start to finish.

Dan Milner brought a friend named Jimmy McBride, who has been collecting songs in Donegal for about 30 years. He sang for us both in English and later in Gaelic. A very special treat. He's only in the U.S. for 2 weeks on this visit so we were quite lucky that he could drop in at NOMAD.

George Stephens and Keith Baldwin joined Sandy for the Hobo Songs on short notice and the mixture of styles, songs and reminiscences worked very well. Lots of fun and good sing-alongs, lots of stories.

Caroline and Sandy gave their concert on Sunday. I think it's the best I've ever heard them sound. They have so much understanding of the songs, and so much richness and control and expressiveness in their voices.

I certainly want to get back there. Hope this gives you a little idea of what it's like. As usual, I slept through much of the weekend.... Even fell asleep during the Shanty Blast. So I'm not really the best person to ask about what NOMAD is like.... but I still had a grand time.

Rita