THE Village Pump Folk Festival will be returning to Westbury next year, after organisers hailed this year’s re-birth a resounding success.
The festival, which attracted the top names in British folk and roots music to Westbury, has announced that it will return to its new home at the White Horse Country Park, Westbury, on the weekend of 26th-28th July 2013.
Organisers are already holding discussions with major stars from the folk world and are planning for larger camping and parking areas. Tickets will be on sale from 1st December once the major names in the line-up have been confirmed. Show of Hands, whose show at this year’s festival was one of many highlights, will again be patrons.
The festival enjoyed its first year at the site in July, with top names in British folk and roots music performing over the weekend, such as Cara Dillon, Show of Hands, Seth Lakeman, Karine Polwart, Oysterband, and Ben Waters. The weekend was a rebirth of the successful festival in Trowbridge, which has built up a reputation for quality folk entertainment since it was established in 1974. Alongside the music, the festival offers other entertainment such as Morris dancing, stalls, and children’s activities.
John Alderslade, festival director, hopes there will be more involvement from the business community this year. “We are delighted to be going back to what everyone agreed was a great new site for the festival, “ he said. “Perhaps some people didn’t know what to expect this year, but many shops and businesses got a lot of extra trade from people coming to the festival, and the Chamber of Commerce recognised the importance to the town of an event like this. Performers and festival-goers will again be needing local hotels, bed and breakfasts and taxis. They’ll want to know where to buy their supplies or have a meal. Any business that wants to use this opportunity to advertise their services to people coming to the festival should contact David Edwards at villagepumpsponsors@ gmail.com.”