News

This is in the Folk Camps FAQ, and also made move visible here. The policy on isolation is unchanged, the only real change for 2025 is that Folk Camps no longer provides Covid tests.

Q. What should I do if I think I have Covid or any other illness while at a Folk Camp?
A. If you think you have Covid or any other infectious disease while at camp, please isolate until your symptoms ease and let a member of staff camp know. We form a close knit community at each Folk Camp and do not want to spread any illness.  Folk Camps follows UK government guidance regarding Covid. For the 2025 season onwards, Folk Camps no longer provides Covid tests. Individuals are responsible for their own health whether they suspect Covid or any other illness. See booking condition 6 if you have any infectious disease.

In the Council meeting after the AGM, Patrick Self was re-elected as Chair, Barry Pollard was elected as Vice Chair, and Claire Mycock was re-elected as Company Secretary.

We have just opened bookings for the Knees-up Weekender, which is a new self-cater weekend for young adults. Taking place on 4-6 July 2025. At Little Horwood, not far from Milton Keynes.

The staff are all in their 20s and 30s, and we expect the campers will be too.

More details here.

Thanks to all those that attended the AGM on Saturday 18 January 2025.

The AGM documents, are available online here, for this and previous AGMs.

The presentation is available directly, here. It includes the official business of the AGM, and information looking back on 2024, and forward to 2025.

The latest Folk Camps newsletter is now available to read and download from this page on the website. News for members and those looking to book their 2025 Folk Camps holidays.

We can now share our programme of 2025 Folk Camps holidays with you. They are all available to book now. If your TV viewing is already full of holiday ads, well you can ignore them now, and instead book a Folk Camps holiday.

If your choice of Folk Camp is influenced by the camp staff, then look here.

New for this year, you will pay the deposit by card online as part of the booking process. It will automatically charge £20 per person in your booking. This will save you having to remember to pay the deposit after you have sent your booking request, and simplify the life of Kerstin, our Admin Manager. More info here.

Find out more about Folk Camps.

Here are a few of the reviews and comments from people who experienced Folk Camps for the first time in 2024:

“My first camp – I was apprehensive – but felt immediately welcomed and comfortable. Thank you all. The Music Workshop was welcoming for all abilities and I learnt a lot”

“This has been my first week at a Folk Camp and the first time as an adult I have felt like part of a community. I absolutely love what you do here, the day routine, sharing duties, the workshops, circle time. Everyone’s been incredibly warm and welcoming. Thank you so much to all the staff for a wonderful holiday, it’s been very special!”

“Dear Folk Camps, Thank you for everything. We’ve had a wonderful time and everyone’s kindness has meant a lot. My husband says he wishes he had started dancing at the beginning of the week because now he loves it!”

“As a first time camper. the whole week has been fantastic. The staff team were brilliant, and despite having had Folk Camps explained to us for many years by some long-term attendees, it’s impossible to have the experience distilled enough to be prepared for the level of warmth and welcome we experienced.
It’s like the best kind of family event you could wish for, with a family group you can pick yourself. Nothing could have improved our first Folk Camps. xxx”

Read more from both new Folk Campers, and those that come back year after year.

When you book your 2025 Folk Camps holidays, you will now pay the deposit by card as part of the booking process. The website booking form will charge £20 per person in your booking.

This mechanism will reduce the admin steps that need to be carried out for each booking; this will save Kerstin time and effort, which also reduces Folk Camps costs and helps us minimise price increases. This payment with booking will also remove the need for you to remember to make a bank transfer for your deposit.

You will still be responsible for paying the balance by bank transfer before each camp. The balance is due one month before weekend camps, and two months before summer weeks and the Craft break. If you do not pay the balance in time, then you lose the “early bird” price, and the higher rate is due.

A few members find it helps their personal cashflow by spreading the payments of the balance over the year. E.g. by making monthly payments. If you want to do this, please contact our Admin Manager Kerstin Jewell, via bookings@folkcamps.co.uk.

Patrick Self – Folk Camps Chair

The Folk Camps AGM will be held in January 2025, online only.

As we discussed at the 2023 AGM, we will no longer hold a combined AGM and Reunion, due to costs and declining attendance. Instead, an online AGM will allow more people to attend, especially those for whom it was difficult to travel to the AGM location.

In autumn 2024, we provided opportunities for governing members to talk to members of Council at the northern August bank holiday Folk Camp. Council members always welcome views and conversations with the membership. You can contact us via the office (info@folkcamps.co.uk) or the website contact form.

The AGM will be held on Saturday 18th January, 2025. Official notification will be emailed to governing members in late December 2024.

More details here.

The latest Folk Camps newsletter is now available on this page on the website. It contains important news and information for members of Folk Camps – especially if you are planning to go to this summer’s Folk Camps.