Next up were
another festival regular, SNAKES IN EXILE. Hailing from Belgium,
SNAKES IN EXILE travel to the festival every year. Normally they
can be found playing a session in the Folk Tent and around the
site. This year their travels had been rewarded with a credited
session.
Unfortunately for SNAKES IN EXILE, their set coincided with me bumping into a few old friends that I hadn't seen since last year. This meant that their set became aural wallpaper as we nipped outside for a chat. Fortunately for them I did manage to blag a copy of the band's cd, more of which elsewhere.
The size of Cambridge means that during the course of the weekend you're pretty sure that you'll bump into people you met in previous years or people that you didn't know would be there. Whilst Cambridge has a lot of people that return on a regular basis, there's also quite a lot of people that are there for the first time.
Most of these are there to see one act and have either got a one day pass or decided to make a weekend of the whole thing. It was 10 000 Maniacs that introduced me to the Cambridge Folk Festival in the 80s and I've been back ever since.
Other festival
virgins are there because their friends suggested they came along.
Either way it means there's a constant supply of new blood to
ensure the events future. It also means that there is a sense
of being. Families mix with singles out for a good time, nose
rings and pipes sit side by side. There is a definite Cambridge
attitude and that attitude is laid back.
A year of news caught up on and another pint down it's time to catch the last official band of the night, OLD BLIND DOGS.
OLD BLIND DOGS, who are also playing the festival proper, bring the night to a superb close with a great combination of songs and dance tunes. The atmosphere is great as is watching the dancers trying to avoid the fallen few for whom the combination of heat and beer has become too much.
Too soon it's over. The official Thursday night has come to an end. Still the bars are open and there's still time to meet up with other friends and exchange tales of Festivals past. As for the music, that's set to continue well into the early hours, both at the main site and amongst the camping, as various impromptu groups get together to play.
A quick stop at the Festival Offey means that there'll be drink to fill our tankards until the Sandman makes his way across the site to claim us until morning.