dreaming spires of Oxford play host to the 7th Oxford Folk Festival

The pall of volcanic ash thrown up in Iceland led to last minute line-up rearrangements but did not prevent the sun shining gloriously onto the streets beneath the famous dreaming spires of Oxford and through the windows of the Town Hall where it imparted an enthusiastic spring into the step of this year's seventh Oxford Folk Festival.

Wherever a lively sound was heard this spring was to be seen; in the Morris men's parading and displays through town, at the packed Ceilidhs or in front of the stages where an unusually young crowd relished performances from birthday boys Bellowhead on Friday night and the Demon Barber Roadshow on Saturday afternoon. Those who made it through to the Warsaw Village Band's closing concert on Sunday evening were somewhat jaded but by their final number most of the audience were again on their feet dancing. Described as an "Echo chamber" by Saul Rose the Town Hall housed a booming and sometimes distorted sound which, combined with the fine weather and energised folkies, gave the event a proper Festival feel, all be it indoors and mid-April. Beer consumption quite likely contributed to this Festival feel as most of the 27 barrels of Real Ale available from the bar were empty by Saturday night. A good time was had, pretty much, by all.

Most of the concerts were held in the late Victorian Town Hall located in the middle of Oxford city centre. The Main Hall is fairly compact with rows of seating for around 800 people overlooked by further seating at an upper balcony level. The stage is tiered and backed by a pipe organ. Although the space available appears restrictive for big acts like Bellowhead generally the performances feel intimate, like Megan Henwood's. The bar, catering and stalls are to the rear of the main hall in a grand wooden clad assembly room.

Festival shopping is mainly dominated by instruments, CDs and DVDs but also available is a range of ethnic-y bits and pieces, jewellery and hats. The bar features a great range of ales from two local breweries, West Berkshire and Shotover Brewing Company with cider from Uptons. By Sunday afternoon half a barrel of 7% cider remains but the ale choice is reduced to a cans London Pride or 6X. Accessed through the bar, The Cornbury Stage hosted 27 local or lesser known up-and-coming acts in a smaller room within the Town Hall. Being a public building the Town Hall is reasonably well kept, largely accessible and has decent toilets.

The Holywell Room, about ten minutes walk from the Town Hall through Oxford's central shopping area is a treasure. The room is Europe's oldest custom built concert hall and has a headcleaningly clear acoustic. Seating is very limited with more space given over to the artistes than the audience. Five minutes walk from the Town Hall the Newman Rooms host nightly Ceilidhs in a much more modern space with room for dancers and band alike to enjoy and express themselves. Oxford University’s Faculty of Music hosts workshops as well as afternoon events next to the fabulous Bate of Museum of odd and unusual instruments. Oxford Castle hosts Morris workshops and shows within its high stone walls and offers a great perspective over the city from it ancient mound.

All of the venues being within the centre of Oxford is convenient for both pub and grub and gives an opportunity to mingle with the bemused tourists who must wonder if it is quite usual for men to wear bells around their knees, or big bushy beards on their faces, in Oxford. As is well known Oxford is cycling town which is handy if you are a cyclist, but not so if you are a car driver as parking is expensive. There was no provision of indoor camping so most of the Festival goers must be locals, friends of locals or staying in Hotels/B&Bs, which again can't be cheap. Now in its seventh year the Festival can't be reliant solely on local trade so a fair few must pay the price and think it worthwhile.

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