International flavour at Baring-Gould Weekend
International flavour at Baring-Gould Weekend
Wren Music’s Baring-Gould Weekend celebrates its 20th year in style in October, with three days of concerts from international as well as UK folk artists.
The landmark event takes place at venues in Okehampton on October 25th to 27th, with the Baring-Gould Song School on October 21st to 25th. To celebrate the 20th year, the event is welcoming back some of the overseas artists who have appeared in previous years - Sos Cantores from Sardinia, Dandari from Latvia, and Funi from Iceland.
Other visiting performers include Scottish folk singer Janet Russell, Thomas McCarthy from Ireland, multi-instrumentalist Lauren Eva Ward, mandolin player Matt Norman and folk singer James Findlay. This year the song school is led by Tim Van Eyken, one of the first to play Songman in the stage production of War Horse. After years of acting in theatre and on TV, Tim is returning to his roots as a folk singer.
These days, the folk festival takes place in Okehampton. Originally it was held in Lewdown and Bratton Clovelly, in honour of Dartmoor’s prolific song collector, the Rev Sabine Baring-Gould. The squire and parson from Lewtrenchard (1834-1924) spent years travelling around Devon and Cornwall, collecting traditional folk songs from the people who sang them.
The size of his song collection wasn’t realised until the founders of Okehampton-based music and education charity, Wren Music, started some digging. By the time they’d reached the end of their search, Paul Wilson and Marilyn Tucker had discovered almost 1,000 songs. Paul said: ‘In terms of the melodies, it’s the most beautiful of all the song collections in England. Baring-Gould saved them and we found them.’
Among the performers at that first Baring-Gould Festival in 1999 were folk stars Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, Anita Best, Cyril Tawney and Newfoundland folk singer Jim Payne. Regulars include the festival’s patron, Phil Beer, from the folk duo, Show of Hands, and legendary American folk singer-songwriter, Peggy Seeger, patron of Wren Music.
Although dedicated to Baring-Gould, the event is much broader - and it’s not just about music. It also marks the arrival of autumn, with a conker competition and a feast that celebrates local produce. Marilyn said: ‘It’s a festival that families can enjoy and it is unique in that the concerts are in an intimate setting, so the audience is really close to the performers. Local singers and musicians can even appear alongside the festival artists at some of the concerts.’
A Baring-Gould weekend ticket is £50, with a four-for-three offer. Visit the Wren Music website to book tickets and for details of all the performances and individual concert prices. www.wrenmusic.co.uk