Workshops
One of the things that sets Cambridge apart from a lot of festivals is what it puts back in. Other festivals take your money, put on the bands for you and that's about it. Cambridge helps to build the next generation of folk musicians.
On a daily basis starting on the Friday, there are 90 minute workshops, given by festival performers, at the Club Tent. These normally start at ten and the topics very every year. This year it was fiddles, vocals and whistles, given by Kathryn Tickell, Karine Polwart and Keven Chambers respectively.
Many folk performers are also teachers, though not usually to so many in one go. People taking part in the workshops seem to enjoy it, but what do they really get out of it. After the fiddle workshop, I spoke to one of the participents, Sarah Mathews. "I get quite a bit from these. It's not like when I'm with my usual teacher, there's no one to one. What you do get is confidence, you get to ask people that have made it questions. You're there playing with one of the best there is and you're picking up a tune she's taught you. Not only that you're also surrounded by other musicians all keen to learn. It adds to the occasion and makes it easier to remember. At the very least you get to play with musicians that you've never met before and have a good time."
It's a sentiment that's reflected by Roddy Knighton, who took part in the vocal workshop. "I found it extremely valuable. I've never really been taught how to sing. I had some lessons in the school choir, but that was it. Karine took us through a series of vocal exercises before we got going and I found it so much easier to start. Normally, I'm striaght into the singing, but not anymore."
In addition to the extended workshops on the main site, there are now sessions targeted at the younger festival goers. Again running for three days from the Friday, these are run at The Hub.
The Hub sessions are split into morning and afternoon. The morning sessions are more focused towards children, the afternoon, teenagers. One of the Hum activities this year was to put a band together to play at the Club Tent.
As well as covering instrumentation, the workshops also look at elements of dance and styles of music. Knowledge is a valuable commodity and at the workshops comes free. If you are an aspiring musician at Cambridge, it's always worth checking at the program to see what's on.