Friday

I've stayed in tents, vans, B&B, Travel Lodges, but for the first time ever the team is based in a house this year. It's a little way from the festival site, but it seems to work very well. Lunch was an apple and goats cheese toastie with a redcurrent dressing as opposed to the usual bacon buttie.
We got back on site early afternoon on the Friday. We'd got caught in traffic on the way which meant that Eric Bibb had started his songwriters workshop. It was packed. Just Eric on stage chatting about his songwriting experiences and heroes.
A question and answer session produced questions that ranged from detailed questions about the songwriting process to simple questions about what weight of bass strings he uses.
It was a very enjoyable workshop. Eric tends to live in the positive side of blues and it was very much this attitude that transferred it's self to the occasion.
I slipped away slightly early in order to catch the end of Jo Freya and Fi Fraser's European Dance Work shop on the Radio Two stage. It seemed to be going very well judging by the smiles on people's faces.
It seemed to cater for all abilities. Some groups were pulling off every step, others were making a hash of it, but the important thing was everybody was enjoying themselves and those that could certainly weren't looking down on those that couldn't.
The process was so simple even I could follow it, even if I couldn't summon up the bottle to give it a go. Show everyone the steps, talk them through the dance and then add music. Do the same again adding new steps and complications.
It was time for the first act of the Friday to start. Shetland's Fiddlers Bid had the honour of kicking off the day. Four fiddle players supported by harp/Piano, guitar and bass.
The tunes were a combination of traditional favourites plus a good number of their own. It was hot both on stage and off, but there was breeze to take the heat out of the tent.
Before long the band were encouraging people to get up on their feet and dance, a number responded. Sensibly Fiddlers Bid switched tempos throughout the set. They did so without a significant change in the atmosphere.
It switched from hot to mellow to give people a chance to recover before building it back up again. The crowd responded well without there being much need to call them back to their feet.