Wimborne Folk Festival

THe festival yesterday was great, though low on numbers. It looks as though the World Cup had a big impact on numbers. Normally, there's four or five rows of people watching the dancers in the streets, yesterday, getting a front-row view was a pushover. Even the ceilidh - with an excellent band - was less crowded than I'd have expected.

I'm hoping this won't impact too badly on the finances of the festival. I know the takings on the street collection are down and I would guess that they may have sold less season tickets than normal. I don't think the season tickets will be massively down, but there were slightly less dance teams than normal (less than normal in Wimborne terms still means a lot of dancers), but the street collection normally raises a fair bit of cash.

Folk festivals are a bit like conventions. Some of them are commerical events and some are done for love. They're always a financial risk to the people running them.

Mind you, Wimborne has survived years when the heavens opened and dancers were performing in the pouring rain (well, the hardy ones were!), so maybe this year won't be too bad.

And today, there's no World Cup and the sun is still shining, so hopefully those who weren't there yesterday will be out in greater numbers than normal!

wimborne Folk Festival

Another good day at the festival.

Did a bit of shopping around the stalls and bought a pair of *very* brightly coloured patchwork trousers for exalted_mugwump and a Lord of the Rings board game for micavity If you haven't played this one, it was designed by Reiner Knizer and is excellent for 2-5 players working as a team. The rules take a little getting used to, but it's worth it as there is a real sense of danger as you play. It's not at all uncommon for all the players to die before the ring is destroyed and you frequently only make it by one person heroically sacrificing themselves.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/823

It only cost a fiver and was still in its shrink wrap. I find I get a little annoyed at the way charities often underprice things. Someone donated them a game that was worth nearly £30 and they virtually give it away for a fiver. I'm sure they could have got ten for it. Another charity stall had a Tiffany lamp priced at £2. Those things often cost around £90.

There were some stalls that were pricing sensibly. You don't need to ask a fortune, but at least try and charge something that reflects the value of what was given to you.

Great dancers, lots of Appalachian clog teams, a group over from Brittany in France (the mean age of the dancers must have been around 60, but they danced their tradational dances and were made very welcome by one and all). Bourne River were *still* dancing well right to the end!

I love the sound of morris music. That's what makes the festival for me. I don't see much of the dancing as I have my back to the teams when I'm collecting. It's the music that carries me along and takes my cares away. I really love this festival - there's music wherever I go.