As this year’s Sidmouth Folk Festival wound down after a week of superb live music performances, colourful dance displays, energetic ceilidhs and much more, it was time for a final walkabout.
First stop was the Children’s Festival Showcase at the Blackmore Gardens. A culmination of the week’s Children’s Festival Workshops, it featured uplifting, energetic and joyful performances, showing great promise for the future.
Meanwhile, over at the Kennaway House Cellar Bar, Flo Perlin was playing at the last Folkadelia session. The London-based contemporary singer-songwriter has Iraqi and Belarusian heritage, and her personal songs explored her family history while reflecting on relationships, mental health and human nature. Accompanied by accomplished cellist/vocalist Imogen Halsey, songs such as Lonesome Child, Baghdad and Pine left the audience much to ponder.
I pondered plenty myself as I headed for the Esplanade to discover that most of the colourful festival stalls had vanished, although some Morris dancers were still practising their steps.
Moving on to the Ham, I caught the festival’s final main concert. In an uncanny re-run of the 2019 show headlined by the Young ‘Uns supported by folk stalwart Peter Coe, we had the same line-up. Coe even joked that he’d considered playing an identical set and then thought better of it. Opening with a rousing Penny for the Ploughboys, he gave a considered performance, with highlights including a singalong Byker Hill, a potent Joseph Baker and an emphatic Rolling Down the Ryburn. Excellent stuff.
The Young ‘Uns have tweaked their act since 2019. The trio – Sean Cooney (vocals), Michael Hughes (vocals, guitar) and David Eagle (vocals, accordion, piano) – were already a tour-de-force but, spearheaded by rising comedian Eagle, they offered biting humour between numbers.
To my ears this added a much-needed lighter touch, especially when the Young ‘Uns tackled challenging songs such as Jack Merritt’s Boots (about the 2019 London Bridge stabbing), Tim Burnham (a Lockerbie disaster victim) and Hand Over Hand (the human chain that rescued a family from a riptide). They quite rightly earned an encore and duly obliged with a memorable version of James’s Sit Down.
After that, it was time to catch the Torchlight Procession and firework display that ended this year’s Sidmouth Folk Festival in traditional style. Bring on next year’s 70th festival!
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