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Village Pump

Venue: White Horse Country Park
Town: Westbury
Dates: 24-26/7/15
Website: http://www.villagepumpfolkfestival.co.uk/

If I was to tell you that I took the family off for a wet weekend in the shadow of a cement factory you'd probably think I was mad, but that is exactly what we did and we had a great time.

The White Horse Country Park at Westbury in Wiltshire is the current home for the Village Pump Folk Festival, which laid down its roots almost 50 years ago at the Lamb Inn in nearby Trowbridge. The park is bounded on one side by the Great Western main line between London and Plymouth and the aforementioned cement works, and the escarpment up to Salisbury Plain on the other. Overlooking the area is the White Horse carved into the side of Bratton Down that gives the park its name.

Hopefully, this review will give you an insight as to what The Village Pump Folk Festival was like to attend and what my partner Siân and our children Gethin and Morgana thought of it.

The Music The Perpective

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Later on we watched amongst others Show of Hands of whom I am a big fan and was therefore gutted that in order to take part in the scratch choir I had to miss the majority of the performance and I wondered whether I was doing the right thing as my daughter and I made our way over to the family tent with the Strains of the Innocents song ringing in my ears, a particular favourite which I have sung at our local folk club. I did enjoy the choir but my one criticism would be that it was pitted against a main act and the lateness of the choir may have put off some potential singers from attending especially amongst the younger element. The choir met again briefly the following day for a run through prior to our performance on the White Horse Stage. I love a festival where you get to go the other side of the curtain and experience what the other performers do.

I also enjoyed The Oysterband, and The Spooky Men's Chorale. Chairs were available in all but the main tent I hadn't thought to bring any chairs with us consequently my feet and the children's feet were aching after been on the go for many hours, some people had chairs at the back but most people stood up or sat outside the tent on chairs that were available. This was fine in the sunshine but not so good when the weather turned inclement. There was a special seating area for disabled festival goers mainly with difficulty standing. I noticed one person showing their Blue Badge, however not having brought proof of my son's disability so I felt a little cheeky asking for him to sit in the area when he started to flag plus we would have been separated. Later on we did manage to sit on the edge of the tent but did not want to take advantage. He wasn't all that keen to be parted from us either. Not sure if there were any do's or don'ts regarding access but we certainly didn't get given bad looks or tutted at as has happened at other events. My daughter came up with an idea but forgot to write it on her evaluation form which was chair hire for those who have forgotten, broken or unable to bring their own seating. Wonder what the festival organisers would think of this idea or whether it has been tried in the past.

There was so much available that we only got to see a fraction of what we had hoped to see often making the short trip between stages to catch favourite and unfamiliar artists as they appeared on different stages. I loved the characters wandering around with giant puppets or lit up like fairies during the evening. I also liked how smoothly everything seemed to run and even glitches such as artists unable to make it were dealt with alternatives found and explanations given. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to sample the real ales or ciders available on this occasion maybe I need to go back next year to do some more research on this stunning little festival.

Siân Northey

The Village Pump Folk Festival from a younger perspective

I enjoyed it at the Village Pump Folk Festival this year because I liked the workshops I attended. I especially enjoyed the Drama workshop which is good for all ages. Also I attended the choir workshop with my mum and we sang on the White Horse stage.

I didn't really go to the children's tent but from what I saw it looked pretty good and funny, especially when Wolly got my dad to be part of his act.

I also enjoyed the music, personally I enjoyed Spooky Men's Chorale, Oysterband and Show Of Hands.

Overall it was a good festival

Morgana Chamberlain

And that is about it. As a family we had a great time at our first Village Pump Folk Festival. We would highly recommend it to any other families planning to go next year and it's fairly safe to say we'll be back.