|
07 Jul 17 - 12:45 PM (#3864901) Subject: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: Johnny J Many of them do, at any rate. Edinburgh Folk Club never used to do this and, as I recall, proved very successful during the tourist season. It even put on its own Fringe Shows. Changes in venues made it less practical to continue especially after moving to the Pleasance which is always hired by Fringe companies during that time. However, I notice that most clubs, especially in Scotland, seem to close their doors at this time of year. I can understand that the organisers may wish a break and some of the regulars may be on holiday too but I'd have thought passing trade especially in more touristy areas woud more than make up for this. Also, I'd be more inclined to leave the house on a Summer night too. |
|
07 Jul 17 - 03:50 PM (#3864926) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: GUEST,Peter There are exceptions but experience shows that most guest booking clubs will not have sustainable audiences in August. Most that I know either shut down altogether or run as singers nights or informal singarounds. |
|
07 Jul 17 - 03:55 PM (#3864927) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler It used to be that we were busy taking family holidays during the school holidays. Nowadays we kook after the grandkids during the school holidays! Robin |
|
07 Jul 17 - 04:36 PM (#3864937) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: RTim The club in Woods Hole Cape Cod Massachusetts closes every Summer (for over 40 years) because of Holidays and Holiday makers......... Tim Radford |
|
07 Jul 17 - 05:27 PM (#3864939) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: ChanteyLass Many folk venues around Rhode Island operate only during the academic year when college students and staff are available as volunteers and audience members. Also the summer is filled with folk festivals. Performers and the audience can't be everywhere at once! |
|
07 Jul 17 - 05:52 PM (#3864943) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: GUEST,Tunesmith Well, I've always thought that the Uk summer break tradition started in the 60s when lots of clubs had school teachers running them, and so they fell in with the academic breaks. |
|
07 Jul 17 - 07:29 PM (#3864952) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: GUEST,Malcolm Storey The upsurge of festivals accounted for some of even the flourishing clubs either closing or at best running singarounds at certain times of the year. This was mostly in the "summer" months and was certainly the case with the Folk Union One in Hull in its later years when it closed for Cleethorpes and Beverley festivals as well as the whole of August which was also effected by the school and so family holidays. |
|
09 Jul 17 - 01:20 PM (#3865276) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: Steve Gardham What Malcolm said. Spot on! |
|
10 Jul 17 - 01:57 AM (#3865350) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: Mr Red Same with ceilidh series. The time for holidays, folk festivals, gardening, rambling, etc. And dancing in the hot weather is challenging. So challenging some people go to Sidmouth for 8 days of 4 challenges per day (minimum). And then you could consider Whitby, Broadstairs or Gennetines. Busy time for dancers. |
|
10 Jul 17 - 02:27 AM (#3865352) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: r.padgett Best time in UK for folk clubs is in the winter when it is cold and dark and wet! Ppl need to get out and about and enjoy good weather in the summer ~ many of course head for the folk festivals and enjoy camping caravanning singing and music and dance etc with other from all over UK and further Ray |
|
10 Jul 17 - 03:01 AM (#3865358) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: GUEST I can understand that the organisers may wish a break and some of the regulars may be on holiday too but I'd have thought passing trade especially in more touristy areas woud more than make up for this. Also, I'd be more inclined to leave the house on a Summer night too. It's a while back but Llandudno worked that way. There may have been odd guest night outside of this but it only had regular (say 1 in 4) guest nights in the town's summer season. January was the difficult time when it might have been debatable whether to close or use a round the tables format rather than that club's usual set of three at the mic format for singers nights. The passing summer trade brought in the odd floor singer as well as audience. |
|
10 Jul 17 - 03:33 AM (#3865365) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: GUEST It's surely down to festivals, in the UK at least? A quick non-exhaustive look at August, in England only, gives: Wickham Festival - 3rd Aug 2017 - Wickham, PO17 5HD, Hampshire Wilderness Festival - 3rd Aug 2017 - Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire Americana Folk & Roots - 4th Aug 2017 - Richmond DL11 6ED, Yorkshire Sidmouth Folk Week - 4th Aug 2017 - Sidmouth, Devon Sidmouth Fringe Sessions - 5th Aug 2017 - Salcombe Regis, Devon Surrey Mini Bluegrass Festival - 5th Aug 2017 - Mickleham, RH5 6EE, Surrey Boomtown Behind the Mask - 10th Aug 2017 - Matterley Estate, Winchester, SO21 1HW, Hampshire Fairport's Cropredy Convention - 10th Aug 2017 - Cropredy, Oxfordshire Billingham International Folklore Festival of World Dance - 11th Aug 2017 - Billingham, Cleveland Bridport Folk Festival - 11th Aug 2017 - Bridport, Dorset Broadstairs Folk Week - 11th Aug 2017 - Broadstairs, Kent Dartmoor Folk Festival - 11th Aug 2017 - South Zeal near Okehampton, Devon Lake District Folk Weekend - 11th Aug 2017 - Staveley, Cumbria Saltburn Festival - 11th Aug 2017 - Saltburn, Yorkshire Bath Folk Festival - 12th Aug 2017 - Bath, Somerset Folk At The Fort - 12th Aug 2017 - Newhaven, BN9 9DS, Sussex Radford Mill Blues Festival - 12th Aug 2017 - Radford, BA2 0QF, Somerset Beautiful Days - 18th Aug 2017 - Escot Park, Devon FolkEast - 18th Aug 2017 - Glemham Hall Grounds,, Suffolk Just So Festival - 18th Aug 2017 - Rode Hall, Cheshire Moira Furnace Folk Festival - 18th Aug 2017 - Moira, Swadlicote, DE12 6AT, Leicestershire White Horse Folk Festival - 18th Aug 2017 - Grove, Oxfordshire Whitby Folk Week - 19th Aug 2017 - Whitby, Yorkshire Purbeck Valley Folk Festival - 24th Aug 2017 - Purbeck Valley Farm, Swanage, Dorset Shambala Festival - 24th Aug 2017 - Secret, Northamptonshire Cornwall Folk Festival - 25th Aug 2017 - Wadebridge, Cornwall Cottingham Folk Festival - 25th Aug 2017 - Cottingham, Yorkshire Greenbelt - 25th Aug 2017 - Boughton Estate, Kettering,NN14 1BJ, Northamptonshire Maui Waui Festival - 25th Aug 2017 - Theberton, Suffolk Shrewsbury Folk Festival - 25th Aug 2017 - Shrewsbury, Shropshire Solfest - 25th Aug 2017 - Tarns Nr Aspatria, CA7 4NG, Cumbria Stroud Fringe - 25th Aug 2017 - Stroud, Gloucestershire Towersey Festival - 25th Aug 2017 - Towersey, Oxfordshire England's Medieval Festival - 26th Aug 2017 - Herstmonceux Castle, BN27 1RN, East Sussex Liverpool Sea Shanty Festival - 26th Aug 2017 - Liverpool, Lancashire |
|
10 Jul 17 - 03:34 AM (#3865366) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: Rob Naylor Sorry, "Guest" immediately above was me with a dead cookie! |
|
10 Jul 17 - 08:27 AM (#3865407) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: Mr Red this year's White Horse is the last. Kate & Dave have done 30 and it is too much for them now. But add River Folk Festival Lechlade, 4-6 Aug, on my list & they run a Friday Folk Club which might run through the year but their website is way out of date. |
|
10 Jul 17 - 07:19 PM (#3865514) Subject: RE: Why do folk clubs close over Summer? From: Tattie Bogle Just thinking of other Scottish clubs I go to: 2 of them continue all year round. One is monthly, and does not have guest nights in July and August, just session nights. Another is weekly, with guest nights once a month and sessions the other weeks, but again, no guests in July/August. But at least, they keep going. One other club nominally takes a July/August break from monthly guest nights, but has in the last 2 or 3 years been asked by bands if they can come and do a gig for us in July or August. After due deliberation, it was agreed that they could do it in our usual premises but under a diferent set of conditions than the usual ones, with them shouldering more overall responsibility than the club committee. These "extra" gigs have proved popular, with reasonably good attendances. Of course, in Scotland, summer holidays start a month earlier than in England, but there are enough of us grandparents, not taking our holidays then, to fill the seats. And we also have a plethora of festivals, from March to October mainly, but not forgetting Celtic Connections and the Burns bonanzas in January! |