The Folk Camps Party Band received startup funding from Folk Camps. Members are mostly Folk campers, and the band represents a part of our summer Folk Camps offering.
The band was set up in response to Folk Camps Council’s request in 2017 for projects that would fulfil the charitable aims of Folk Camps (to preserve and promote traditional music, song and dance). The idea of the band was to promote Folk Camps to the festival going public as well as to educate and encourage a new generation of Folk Camp musicians.
For details of their upcoming gigs, please visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FolkCampsPartyBand/.
The Party Band continues to work to promote Folk Camps amongst the festival going public and the wider folk world in general. However as the band is no longer supported financially by Folk Camps we are looking to new ways of funding the project.
If you like what we do please consider becoming a regular subscriber… without help we cannot continue to spread the joy! We are so sorry to have to ask but the costs of running such a big band are staggering.
https://ko-fi.com/folkcampspartyband
What is the Folk Camps Party Band?
Putting Folk Camps firmly on the folk festival map, the Folk Camps Party Band is an exciting multi-ability multi-age ceilidh band drawn from all parts of the Folk Camps spectrum that attends several festivals a year to show off the essence of Folk Camps.
The band was a special project, with financial backing from Folk Camps agreed back in 2018, when the world (and our financial position) was very different to that since the pandemic.
The first festival performance was at Chippenham May 2018 and they went down a storm! people danced, listened happily, and talked to us about Folk Camps, as you can see from the video above.
The festival public experience first-hand the fun that can be shared across generations and abilities in making distinctive music together that is both musically satisfying and good to dance to.
The band participants, as well as having fun, have a first rate educational experience which helps to develop the skills needed to make great potential folk camp musicians for the future.
The specially arranged repertoire is drawn from the English folk tradition as well as other traditions which have been absorbed into the English standard repertoire.
The band is the brainchild of Jenny Newman who also leads the project.
The band concept, particularly its multi-generational character, has received an overwhelmingly positive response from festival organisers leading to bookings from major folk festivals from May 2018 until the present day with more in the pipeline.
“Just about the most exciting ceilidh band to arrive on the folk festival circuit this year! We need MORE!”
Fee Lock Caller
The Story So Far
This PDF file describes the impact of the Party Band in 2019, and some of what was then planned (before the pandemic affected what could be done).
Band Selection and Recruitment
The band includes a wide range of young (and not so young) Folk Campers producing a balanced band of around seventeen players (up to five of which will be professional musicians). From time to time, as places become available, the opportunity to join the band will be advertised to all Folk Campers. Despite the considerable commitment required from participants there was no shortage of good candidates in response to the appeal for young recruits for 2019.
See this recruitment letter (PDF) and this video for the recruitment into the band for 2020: