The Folk Tent is a unique venue
at Cambridge. For a start it's the only one with it's own public
bar. Secondly it's one of the few festival venues in Britain and
the only one at Cambridge where it's possible to turn up and put
your name down on a list and play. There are a few showcase sessions
that go on here during the festival, but apart from that it's
pretty much open house. Local folk clubs take it in turns to host
sessions. Normally they set one or two of these aside for their
favourite act, but everything else is down to being in the right
place in the queue. Acts travel from across the world to sign
up for a slot. For many of the acts a slot in the Cambridge FolK
Tent is the highlight of their year. The Folk Tent can be refreshingly
different and an oasis from the hurly burly of the louder main
stages.