The Bulverton is almost a festival within Sidmouth Folk Festival. A standing venue for high-energy roots events and late-night extras, the large tent has its own vibe, attracts a younger crowd than the Ham, and there’s always plenty going on.
Dropping into Betsy’s Lounge on Wednesday evening, “Betsy’s Bash” was in full swing. Featuring Stream of Sound (a group of young singers) and members of Shooting Roots (an organisation for young people, offering creative folk workshops), everyone was in fine voice. Hopefully we’ll see some of the performers on bigger stages in the future.
Already doing just that were five young musicians of the Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail, performing at the “Bulverton Big Night Out”. Matthew Duncan (piano), Isy Maclean (harp) and fiddlers Rowan Steele, Caleb Anderson and Ruairidh Mackay are learning skills in traditional music as part of the Fèis Rois arts education programme. Having supported Breabach at the Ham on Monday, they played a similar set of reels and instrumentals. Still in their teens, they earned loud applause from the crowd for an accomplished set.
Peat & Diesel were equally superb but vastly different. Blending folk, punk and rock, Calum “Boydie” Macleod (guitar/vocals), Innes Scott (accordion) and Uilly Macleod (drums/vocals) hail from Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Thundering through their own songs, Boydie’s gruff lead vocal spewed out lyrics that were often incomprehensible to my Sassenach ears. Peat & Diesel and Western Isles were clearly about the band’s life in the Scottish islands, but the rest of it was a mystery. There was also a comedic version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight and a convincing take on Dirty Old Town. All in all, their raucous set was one of the festival’s biggest highlights.
Outside the main tent, the Campfire Sessions were warming up. With a glowing fire to sit round and gentle acoustic music to enjoy, it was very atmospheric, especially with the sea mist swirling in.
Finally, back in the Bulverton’s main tent, the Late Night Extra brought things to a hectic close. Led by the Canny Band – an adept trio comprising Sam Mabbett (accordion), Michael Biggins (piano) and Callum Convoy (bodhran) – happy dancers lapped up the high-quality music. It was the perfect way to finish a busy and bustling Bulverton
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here