The Incredible 60th Anniversary of Broadstairs Folk Week

10 years ago, newly moved to England from Shetland, my son’s violin teacher – the great and much-missed Pete Shaw -suggested that to further his education in fiddle playing, we should attend the Broadstairs Folk Week and immerse ourselves in the culture. And we did, attending the 50th Broadstairs Folk week, discovering the incredible Banter (who have gone from strength to strength, now hosting the 3rd year of their own festival this September), the Australian String Contingent, Blackbeard’s Tea Party, The Demon Barbers, Granny’s Attic, and many others. As a family we’re indebted to Pete for suggesting this – and to the family (and hangers-on) for embracing it and running with it.

Over the past 10 years we’ve added Merry Hell, the Spooky Men’s Chorale, The Longest Johns, and many others to our playlists. We’ve added the Warwick Folk Festival to our summer fun, and we’ve ceilidh’d to everything from traditional ceilidh bands, string quartets, a techno-outfit last year, and now two heavy metal ceilidh bands, We’ve rocked out to The Noble Jacks, we’ve sung along to Man the Lifeboats and The Captain’s Beard. We’ve been blown away by Le Vent du Nord, astonished by Kate Rusby, and cried with laughter alongside Keith Donnelly (seriously. Ghost Eiders in the Sky.).

One simple thread runs through our summer: music. If we’re not singing or playing, we’re dancing. Or we’re just taking a rest out for a slow one while we recover (never did get the hang of the waltz, and I can just about Polka if someone reminds me how it goes). For a few weeks we get more steps in than ever and our watches spend the next month recovering and complaining that we’ve not got our step goals in.

At our first Broadstairs my youngest was 5, my eldest 15. They hardly cost anything to get into events or even the camping itself! Initial outlay: one massive family tent and a few extras. We went to the family ceilidhs and were welcomed with open arms. The kids just joined in because that’s what everyone else’s kids were doing. And we followed along. As time has gone by and the kids have grown, we’ve gone through both larger tents and more tents to give everyone a bit of space, now we’ve graduated on to the miracle that is AirB&B and a couple of places in the town itself. And, even better, the kids have started paying for their own tickets!

Fair warning, the campsite for Broadstairs is a bit of a schlep out of town – about a mile from the sea front, half a mile from the ceilidh hall – but it’s flat and the facilities are decent. Well, the campsite is flat. It’s uphill all the way from town to campsite! Fortunately, the festival lays on a bus. First few Broadstairs it was at the Charles Dickens school and the festival had access to some of the bigger rooms and social spaces so there was a hub you could charge your phone in, dances and concerts in the evening actually at the campsite. Not any more, unfortunately. Change of trust ownership put pay to that sweet arrangement. Hey ho. The campsite uses the school grounds but that’s about it. But that’s one of the things that makes Broadstairs special. For Warwick, everything (almost) is on the main festival site. You’ve not got a reason to leave it unless you’re wandering in to town for a pub gig or something that’s happening in the market square. This, on the other hand, is the map for Broadstairs:

Like I said, roughly a mile top to bottom, half that across and venues all over it. Campsite at the top, Dane Court school (thank you), ceilidhs at the Sarah Thorne Theatre (just above the railway station), and the bulk of the concerts at the Queen’s Road Baptist Church. Additional concerts this year – and hopefully every year going forward – at the Pavilion on the Sands. Some great shots of that venue on the Instagram feeds for the festival itself, Man the Lifeboats, The Captain’s Beard, and The Noble Jacks. Huge craft fair and food market bottom left, an additional market on the jetty for some of the festival. Plus you’ve got all the little pub gigs. Best of luck finding The Thirty-Nine Steps, though, it’s rebranded now as Sonder and an excellent pub it is, too. And if that’s not enough for you, there’s the Charles Dickens connection with Bleak House and The Old Curiosity Shop and the hardware store that inspired the immortal Four Candles sketch by The Two Ronnies.

Y’see while Warwick is a concentrated folk festival, Broadstairs gives you time to relax, to breathe, to swim in the sea, eat the fish and chips, discover the huffkins, and generally mooch around town. It’s a holiday as much as a festival for us. We’ve graduated from having to keep the kids occupied 100% of the time to only knowing where they are about 20% of the time. They’ve grown up coming to Broadstairs and it’s almost as much a home to them as home itself. We’ve made friends here we only ever see for a week of the year down by the sea despite the fact they live there all year round, and friends we bump in to at other festivals and (on one memorable occasion) at a gig in Lincoln at The Drill. We’ve got friends who travel down from Northumberland, Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire, and further afield to meet up for this week by the sea. And every year we make more.

Every year we discover new bands. Banter. Man the Lifeboats. Tarrin. Gnoss. Merry Hell. Powerhouse. Whapweasel. The Captain’s Beard. Granny’s Attic. Blackbeard’s Tea Party. The Demon Barbers. Le Vent du Nord. Donnelly and South. The Melrose Quartet. The Spooky Men’s Chorale. Lindisfarne. Show of Hands. There’s more, many more. Buy the T-shirts, get the CDs signed, chat to the artists as it turns out they’re camping just along from you, get them a pint in the festival bar. We were lucky enough to catch one of Les Barker’s last public shows at Warwick. Look any of them up on YouTube, you won’t be disappointed.

It’s not the cheapest holiday – definitely worth getting the early bird tickets when they go on sale whichever festival it’s for – but if you want to pitch in and do a shift or two manning the doors at a venue, accompanying a morris side with a collection tin, you can get your camping paid for and an access-all-areas wristband good for most everything there.

11 years ago I would never have considered that we were a folkie family. Now I can’t see us missing it.

See you next year, Broadstairs.