St Albans 2001 - we were there!

Subject: St Albans 2001 - we were there!
From: Helen
Date: 29 Apr 01 - 08:38 PM

Hi all.

Well, St Albans festival (north of Sydney, Oz) was great as usual. Met up with alison again, and finally met Callie. I didn't meet Roo, though. Maybe next year?

Alison and I had a harp session on Sunday with Jackie, who I haven't seen for years, not since the last Gulgong Festival I was at, I think. Eric played the mandolin, too. It only lasted a bit more than an hour but, I can tell you, it is the highlight of my year. I haven't had a harp session for years.

St Albans is a lovely little place - very much a one pub town. The pub used to be the town, plus a few houses, but more venues are springing up each time I go there.

One thing I noticed is that, as a folk festival, there is a very different atmosphere to the way it used to be. It used to be mainly folkies turning up, and that wonderful folkie sense of kinship was a big part of the enjoyment. Everyone would nod and smile and greet each other, even if they didn't actually know each other. Now there are a lot of non folkies going and that sense of kinship is not as obvious. Dare I say it, but I think it is the influence of the city people. Living in a big city (Sydney) tends to isolate people (not folkies, of course) from making new contacts, so that they don't *get* the point of folk festivals, which is to be friendly and make music, and dance etc.

Which brings me to the other point: there were very few groups of people just sitting around and making music for the fun of it. It used to be that every campfire had a couple of people playing or singing, and those sounds would just continue all weekend, subliminally influencing the whole mood.

The only campfire "session" I heard on Saturday night was a group of blokes who played/sang one song about every half hour and spent the rest of the time talking (very loudly *g* ) about the state of the world until 7am.

I know that there were sessions at the barn at midnight and intended to go and check them out, but sleep overtook me.

So, just a couple of observations. I went to sleep thinking "Plus ca change, plus sa meme chose" i.e. the more things change, the more they stay the same. And then thinking, no, they aren't staying the same, something special is being lost, IMHO.

But, contacting other Mudcatters is wonderful, and having a harp session - indescribable.

Thanks Alison, Jackie and Eric.

Helen

Subject: RE: St Albans 2001 - we were there!
From: alison
Date: 29 Apr 01 - 09:20 PM

yes it was lovely to meet you again Helen (& Bruce), and Callie.... and I did meet Roo.. but she was only there for a while on Saturday afternoon......

our little harp session was great.....

lovely little festival.....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: St Albans 2001 - we were there!
From: Callie at work
Date: 29 Apr 01 - 11:39 PM

I'm so sorry I missed the harp session. We left quite early to get to the "save the ABC" rally at the Opera House. It was good to meet up with you both, if only briefly!

I have the evidence that we met up, and will get the photos developed soon!

I thought there were a lot fewer people than previous years. There was the noticeable absence of several regular festival goers.

All in all, a good festival.

What happened to that child who screamed and screamed on Sunday morning? Was he burnt? It was awful.

cheers

Callie

Subject: RE: St Albans 2001 - we were there!
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Apr 01 - 02:29 AM

Helen, does that happen a lot to festivals, do you think? Not having the opportunity to go to many, I don't know. I do know it has caused major changes over the years at the Burning Man Event (not folk per se). It used to be just a few people and is now a major media event, much to the chagrin of the old members. Just wondering.

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: St Albans 2001 - we were there!
From: alison
Date: 30 Apr 01 - 02:54 AM

it was a 11 year old kid and he was burnt....... I heard someone call for a first aid kit.. and got out of bed and ran looking for them.... eventually found the kid in the river.......

he had bent down to look at a fire and hadn't realised that the ashes around the fire were still hot... and badly burnt both hands and a foot..............

we fixed him up and sent him off to hospital, (nearest one about 1.5 hours away) with his feet and hands in containers of iced water.........

that's the sort of thing that brings home to you how badly prepared we are for emergencies at little festivals.... the kid will be all right the burns were painful but superficial...... thankfully it wasn't something more serious....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: St Albans 2001 - we were there!
From: Helen
Date: 30 Apr 01 - 05:34 AM

kat,

There is a long-running debate that I hear every now and then, about the change which occurs to folk festivals which were once not specifically organised - i.e. more an agreement among folkies that that is where we will be on that weekend and whatever happens will happen. It used to be that the only organised part of the St Albans FF was the dance(s) on Friday and/or Saturday nights. There were no stages set up, no workshops or other organised events.

Gradually as more people show up and it becomes more organised this change seems to occur, and then you get the debates about which is better.

I'm fairly easy going about these things. I like the organised stuff and I like the self-initiated stuff like sessions. But if it is a choice between the two I prefer sessions to concerts. The workshops are different, for me, because they are similar to sessions in that people are working together to learn new music or techniques, but they are usually scheduled/organised to be held at a specified day and time and place.

I'm not trying to start the debate again. My main reason for my comments above are that I noticed a couple of fundamental changes from how St Albans used to be about 10 years ago.

I really did miss the random pockets of musicians and singers going hell for leather all over the place. It makes me wonder about the claims which a friend of mine makes that the more organised the events are, the less d-i-y music there is likely to be. He reasons that the higher amount of organised concerts causes a shift in the psyche of the audience, so that they tend to click into observation mode rather than participatory mode. There could be a shift, too, in the sense of comparing our own abilities against those of the people on stage, and then fearing that we will seem inadequate by comparison. That's sad to me, too, if it is the case, because all getting together and playing music and sharing tunes and techniques is what makes FF's so much fun.

Speaking of that, thanks alison, for the bodhran workshop. I have to get mine off the shelf and give it a go again. Only this time I will know what I am actually supposed to do with it. *g*

Helen

Subject: RE: St Albans 2001 - we were there!
From: alison
Date: 14 Oct 01 - 08:49 PM

thanks to Helen, (and Pene Azul).... you can see pics of our harp session here

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: St Albans 2001 - we were there!
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 14 Oct 01 - 11:44 PM

G'day Snalbanners ...

I didn't notice this thread at the time - or get to St Albans 2001 ... due to rather drastic meltdown of car engine on the way to The National Folk Festival a week or two earlier.

I'm interested in Helen's observations on the loss of sessions as festivals become more organised. I really despair of finding the sort of sessions I love at most of the big, recent festivals ... everything becomes a 'paying' space ... even when the festival has no entry prices once you've paid to get in the gate. I think that the lack of personal contacts comes into this ... when 'Catters got together at an earlier St Albans festival, we had some good sessioning for a while.

We need to make sure there are suitable spots where ordinary folkies can sit and play without being pressured to do something else (buy drinks, peform for the public, or just "shut up, so people can hear the paid performers").

BTW: Helen is certainly right about the minimal organisation of the early St Albans festivals. I was nominally in charge of it ... being Chairman of the NSW Folk Federation at the time. Someone suggested the venue ... we decided it ought to happen ... someone got a bit of publicity circulating ... someone else made sure there would be a hall and musicians for the dance ... and somewhere to cook food ... and that was pretty much all that I noticed happening. Good time had by all (no money, but good music).

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: St Albans 2001 - we were there!
From: 53
Date: 14 Oct 01 - 11:45 PM

we missed that one.

Subject: RE: St Albans 2001 - we were there!
From: breezy
Date: 15 Oct 01 - 05:24 PM

wrong st. albans. hello oz, seen mundy-turner yet? How's Eric?