A new community ceilidh band has formed to raise funds for Bratton Primary School, with their debut performance set to take place next month.
Folk musician Dan Loughran has brought together musicians for the special event. Ceilidhs – or barn dances – are informal, fun events suitable for all ages.
He said, “Friends of Bratton School (FOBS) are the Bratton Primary School PTA and are always looking for new, inventive and fun ways to fundraise for the school.
“I’m a folk musician and parent governor at the school, and run a folk music and song session at the Duke Inn in Bratton on the first Thursday of each month.
“There are some great folk traditions in England, including Morris dancing, wassails and Maypole dancing, and there is a large and ancient repertoire of traditional English music stretching back over 500 years.
“As such, I’ve always wanted to run a community music project to get more people enjoying and playing traditional English folk music. This naturally led to the idea of creating a community ceilidh band to play for a fundraising ceilidh for the school.”
The ceilidh will take place on Sunday 29th June at the Jubilee Hall in Bratton, between 2pm and 4.30pm.
There’s no need to get your tartan in a twist if you don’t know the steps on the day, as all dances will be explained by a caller during the event.
Dan added, “There has been a lot of interest in joining the band from locals, including more than one who decided to ‘dust off the old accordion’; this is excellent, as it was exactly this idea of bringing people out from the community who wouldn’t normally play in public that I wanted to achieve.
“We have a wide collection of musicians with a range of expertise drawn from the local area, with instruments including accordion, fiddle, concertina, melodeon, guitar, whistle, recorder – and even a hammer dulcimer.”
Advance tickets for the ceilidh can be purchased by contacting Friends of Bratton School at FOBS@bratton.wilts.sch.uk.
Tickets are £10 for adults, £15 for a family ticket, and children go free.
Pictured: Dan Loughran who has formed a ceilidh band to support Bratton Primary School
