Tenterden Folk Festival

Tenterden Folk Festival – The Future

Following a highly successful Tenterden Folk Festival 2024 which took place from Thursday 3^rd to Sunday 6^th October we are sad to announce that the Trustees have decide not to continue to run this ever-popular annual event. This was an exceedingly difficult and emotional decision and was taken for a variety of reasons which are not all financial and some of which we would like to explain further.

Firstly, the festival has, for over 30 years, been organised and promoted by the trustees and a very small voluntary committee of folk enthusiasts and local people. The average age of the three current trustees is now something over 70 and for a number of years they have been considering how to hand the festival to a younger generation of folk enthusiast but have not been able to achieve this, although some excellent and very active new committee members were successfully recruited over the last few years. 

Since the festival started in 1993 the amount of complex and ever-changing rules and regulations with which the festival has to comply has grown rapidly as the festival grew and developed and the amount of time the trustees have to devote to it has of course grown in line with it.

When the festival started in 1993 the total cost was just a couple thousand pounds, but this has grown to over £50,000. With the Covid pandemic and the economic crisis of the last few years, more and more time has had to be devoted to fundraising and the availability of grants for arts and music, especially traditional English folk song, music, dance, and crafts, has plummeted. After taking appropriate advice, the trustees cannot see this position changing in the next three or four years. Despite best efforts the trustees have been unable to obtain any long-term funding or financial guarantees. As a well-respected registered charity of long standing, the festival cannot take financial risks, which would ultimately become the personal responsibility of the three trustees, therefore few options remained.

The trustees felt that it was best to go out on a high while the festival is still a thriving popular event and still entirely solvent and did not want to see it start to decline and struggle hence the taking of incredibly sad decision at this time.

We are very grateful to everyone who has support Tenterden Folk Festival over the last 30 plus years especially Tenterden Town Council, Ashford Borough Council and Kent County Council, all the public houses and venues, all the businesses, trusts and organisations that have sponsored the festival or advertised in the programme, all our loyal and friendly suppliers, and of course the town and people of Tenterden. 

We would also like to thank all the artisans and traders who have taken part in the craft fair, the hundreds of Morris sides and folk dancers who have taken part, the guest artists, and all the singers and musicians as well as everyone who has attended the festival.

Some of our other activities will continue unchanged. There are no plans to stop publishing Around Kent Folk magazine and the monthly free Tenterden Folk Sessions will continue unchanged. We may even promote some much smaller one off events around the town such as barn dances, ceilidhs, or folk music concerts.

Alan Castle, Margaret White and Richard Cartwright

Trustees of Tenterden Folk Day Trust / Tenterden Folk Festival

The Background 

The first “Tenterden Folk Day” took place on Saturday 2^nd October 1993 and, according to the programme, there were 15 billed guests, 13 Morris sides and 18 events.  The guests included some familiar names such as Band of Two, Pete Castle, Lucy Castle, Keith Kendrick, Jez Lowe, Bing Lyle and Tonbridge Mummers, as well as some less familiar names including “Lo! & Behold” which was a one off collaboration between Jez, Pete, Lucy and Bing especially for the event.  The dance sides listed are all well-known teams who we mainly still see at Tenterden, including Bishop Gundulf, East Kent Morris, Kits Coty Morris,  Maenads and of course the host side Woodchurch Morris. The craft fair was an important part of the programme from the beginning and in 1993 it took place in the Junior and Infant School Halls and was organised by Linda Robards from Ashford Library. The other Committee members are listed in the programme as Alan Castle who is still there over 30 years on, Christina Bax (now Fuller) from Ashford Borough Council, Keith Rundell from Kent Arts and Libraries, Dave Grabham founder of Woodchurch Morris was the dance co-ordinator and the late Anne Thomas who remained closely involved until her sad death in 2011.  Sponsors of that first folk day are listed as Ashford Borough Council, Kent County Council, Tenterden Chamber of Commerce and Folk Spots and the support of Tenterden Town Council and Woodchurch Morris is also noted. The venues for sing-a-rounds were the Vine and the Eight Bells with the evening concert taking place in the upstairs room of the Eight Bells, which we still miss!

Tenterden Folk Day Trust was formed in 1994 and registered as a charity with Alan and Dave as the first Trustees, together with Cllr John Link and Jerry Smith who was the landlord of the Eight Bells.  The Bells was also the home of Tenterden Folk Club. Anne Thomas became a Trustee the following year as did then Cllr Mike Levy. The second folk day in 1994 actually started on Friday evening with a Friday Folk Club upstairs in the Eight Bells with John Kirkpatrick topping the bill.  The programme guest list includes such stalwarts as Bob & Kathy Drage, Bo Foakes, Bob Kenward, Vic and Tina Smith (with The Sussex Pistols) and many more.  The festival had already started to develop and in 1995 there were nearly 30 guests listed including Martyn Wyndham Read and the late Johnny Collins and a Friday evening sing-a-round was added.  By now we were also holding the Eight Bells folk club twice a month and also running the educational project in local schools which continues today.

The next big change was in 1998 when the event was re-branded “Tenterden Folk Festival” and for the first time a few events were added on the Sunday.  The guest list was headed by Martin Carthy who headlined a sellout concert in the Eight Bells.  The barn dance band that year was The Cock and Bull Band, one of the best known bands on the festival circuit.   We continued our policy of including some of the best traditional English singers on the guest list in 1999 when we booked both The Copper Family and Ian Campbell.

The festival has continued to thrive, develop and grow but the Trust has always remained true to its original charitable objectives. To preserve and advance public education and appreciation of traditional and contemporary folk music, song, dance and other related traditions, crafts and folk arts as a part of the living heritage.

www.tenterdenfolkfestival.org.uk

info@tenterdenfolkfestival.org.uk

Photos of previous Tenterden Folk Festival are available in the Tenterden Folk Festival photo gallery.

Posted 8th October 2024