SADDLEWORTH FOLK FESTIVAL: 20^th-22^nd July 2007

My favouritest folk festival has this year celebrated its tenth anniversary, and I’ve attended all but the very first – so you could say I’m mildly biased! But wearing the critic’s hat I believe I can detach enough to retain some objectivity … Saddleworth has always been renowned for its sensible value-for-money and the healthy variety of performers it engages, and thankfully it’s never been one of those festivals where the organisers seem to get away with issuing the same flyer year upon year with a spot-the-difference guest-list and merely changing the date!  Now it was (retiring) festival director Ali’s avowed intention to make this “big-one” anniversary year a bit of a Singers’ Fest, and IMHO she succeeded admirably: it was noted by all and sundry that audiences at the concerts and other events alike were uniformly enthusiastic (and tuneful!) with regard to joining-in with choruses (the Wilsons only had to sing one or two notes and a wall of sound came straight back at them!), and the whole atmosphere was gloriously inclusive. Add to all that the unique local flavour of Saddleworth and its abundance of fine regional talent. The guest-list always brings fresh discoveries, and this year for me it was Southport duo Chris & Siobhan Nelson who stood out with their engrossing performance style, all-round expertise and excellent choice of songs; also widely acclaimed were the young acappella team Muldoon’s Picnic. And I’m always captivated (however often I see them) by the constant professionalism of folks like Jez Lowe and Stanley Accrington (completely different sets each performance, flawless yet spontaneous). Another great thing about Saddleworth festival programming is that whereas some festivals just seem to throw artistes’ names into a hat and each concert turns out a permutation of roughly the same bill, each main concert at Saddleworth will feature different artistes and have its own individual flavour notwithstanding the often immense contrasts within it: for instance, Sunday afternoon’s embraced (among others) the ever-reliable, rousing Dave & Anni, the lovely warm Scolds Bridle, the hilarious Biggles’ Wartime Band, and Tim Laycock with his utterly musicianly New Scorpion Band – all Entertainers with a capital E and together a fabulous advert for the diversity and vitality of folk. (Oh, and all blessed with excellent sound too – so take a bow, Pete and team!). The Sunday church-sing was a must as ever, while for many the various Song Games provided thoroughly companionable weekend highlights and Friday evening’s singaround was particularly well-run and vibrant. Interesting themed presentations from Derek Gifford and Mark Dowding, and a goodly selection of workshops ranging from home-recording to Ray Padgett’s Yorkshire Garland, all provided an embarrassment of riches, so naturally it was impossible to attend everything I wanted to! On the Sunday evening there was a packed survivors’ session for the singers, and by all accounts the two parallel events (folk club and musicians’ session) were equally vibrant. One or two disappointments for us Tykes: the victory of Lancashire at the War Of The Roses contest (boo, hiss!), and the non-appearance of Norma Waterson (again…). Also (although to be fair I’ve noted this tendency increasingly elsewhere of late too) singarounds were a victim of their own popularity, many taking 3½ hours just to get round the room once, and (irritatingly) a distinct predictability in terms of the contributions from many participants who we know to have a wider repertoire! But none of these minor matters could erase the often tearfully emotional intensity of enjoyment that a weekend at Saddleworth always brings: so biggest congratulations Ali on getting it so very right – ten years down, and I hope many more to come.

David Kidman