european_son

We complete our Main Stage Line-up with a band that have long been a Folk by the Oak favourite, renowned for their multi-layered, sophisticated vocal harmonies, their precision playing & extraordinary live performances. We are overjoyed that Boston-based Darlingside will be UK-bound and joining us this July! Our Acorn Stage is where we share inspiring and ground-breaking new talent with our wonderful audience, and our final 3 announcements fit that bill perfectly. HEISK is a dazzling and captivating six-piece folk band that redefines the traditional music landscape by infusing Scottish roots with contemporary energy. An accomplished roots multi-instrumentalist, a captivating singer and a poetic wordsmith, Cahalen Morrison is widely recognised as a unique voice in American music. At the forefront of contemporary English folk is Lucy Farrell, who weaves unconventional melodies, sophisticated song-writing and beguiling vocals into enthralling live performances.

Yup, I've requested a refund (even though we haven't totally ruled out going to whatever Standon becomes in 2025) and thankfully even if there are issues with that we bought on a credit card so should be protected.

If you would still like to request a refund, instead of rolling over your ticket to 2025, please fill in the form below. Once the refund request window closes on Friday 8th March 2024, all refunds will be processed within 30 days. Refunds will be processed back to the original card used for payment. The refund process is "fill out a Google Form with two fields: email and booking code", which means your info is likely being chucked into a spreadsheet somewhere at their end that someone will go through manually. They won't start processing refunds till the end of the window (Classic Standon, so another 30-60 days of your money in their account getting interest for an event that isn't happening), and if someone mis-pastes their booking code or whatever, by the time they start processing these requests the refund window will have closed.

Yeah, there are some hopeful people talking about 2025 in the FB groups but I'm not locking up the money for another 17 months on a promise (and with no idea what exactly is going to be on offer then, anyway). More than that, the trust has really fallen out of it. Stiffing the acts is bad enough, but taking advantage of the wristband payment system to stiff traders feels inexcusable. It's notable - and disappointing - that's nothing been said about the 2023 debts in the statement. We're still being given a false picture in official channels. So much of a festival is based on vibes, really, and with that out the window it's a lot to ask people to buy a ticket for something unknown a year and a half in the future. I don't imagine it'll be back (though Alex has come back from more legally fraught trouble I suppose). By 2025 our kid will be eight, and I'll be happier doing festivals that bit further away from home, anyway. EDIT: tldr if there wasn't unpaid acts and traders from 2023 I'd maybe consider rolling over. As is, I wont.

Lol, classic Standon. All lead bookers will receive an email by Friday 9th February from the ticket agent they booked with outlining their options. This will include a closing date for refund requests. If you do not request a refund by this date, your booking will automatically rollover to 2025.

I guess the money in the bank for a full 17 months at current interest rates and the guarantee of a ticket bought (or probably more as you have to keep the whole booking) for a festival most people will now (very fairly) be less inclined to buy a ticket for makes the equation worthwhile on their side. Money in the bank for creditors now is worth a lot more than a potential add-on sale lost (you'd have to find someone who wasn't on your original booking to go with you). With that side, I'm minded to cash out now tbqh. Too risky and too much bad vibes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-68181127 Some performers and food vendors have complained they are still owed tens of thousands of pounds from a festival that took place in the summer. Standon Calling was held in Hertfordshire in July with tickets now being sold online for next year's festival in 2024. One catering business told the BBC they still had not seen their takings worth about £13,000. Alex Trenchard, director of Standon Calling, apologised for the delay. He said: "We apologise for the delay to a small number of payments from our 2023 festival. "We are in the process of fulfilling these and contacting any remaining performers and suppliers."

Two weeks since the promise of some info in "a couple of weeks". Nothing new, bar this in a reply to a disgruntled customer There were definitely issues with boutique this year. We didn’t do it any differently from previous years and were using the same contractors for amenities so it has taken quite a lot of time to get to the bottom of what went wrong. The main issue is that everything costs so much more now than in the old days you remember. If we are to keep the, number of stages etc that we’ve always had we do have to grow and obviously that comes with growing pains and a loss of intimacy. Personally I think The time has come to try to find a balance between being big in some areas (main stage) and small and intimate in others but in a way that is affordable. It may means some sacrifices and scaling back but we have to protect the future viability of the festival. I've got some sympathy, but the truth is those discussions, sacrifices and scaling back should happen i) after everyone's been paid from the previous year, and ii) arguably before you start taking money from festivalgoers for the next year's festival. Still no really firm commitment 2024 is going ahead, or assurance it'll be anything like past Standons if it does. (Could they nix the Thursday night, or at least the bigger acts on that night for example?) I may be naive but my understanding is given the size of acts Standon books, a handful of acts being nixed (or booked) isn't going to be the main thing that shifts the financial needle in either direction... it feels like it'd be all the other stuff regarding the site/infrastructure etc. So I suppose they'll likely drop the Cow Shed and/or the Dive Bar.

FWIW, organiser Alex on FB: Hi all, if you have an outstanding customer service ticket or refund keep an eye out for a reply or refund over the next 48 hours. Thanks again for your patience. Alex I've checked and yes we booked on credit card, so worst case scenario I'm not quite as stressed as I was.

The Staves added to the main stage, which I'm very happy with. Spellbinding songs, exquisite harmonies and sisterly banter make The Staves one of the best bands you will catch live this year. Expect a blissful summer's evening performance of old favourites, plus music from the much-anticipated new album 'All Now'.

Yikes. This is very much me. Three tickets plus posh camping, bought last August when obviously none of this had yet come to light. I'm pretty sure we put it on a credit card, so we should be protected if Standon don't pay us back, but it's all such a mess (and such a shame).

Incredibly poor form as you say, and also worrying for the festival. Whether or not it goes ahead it never inspires confidence in any aspect when this sort of thing is happening.

Everything always seems a bit touch and go with Standon in my three years of going, but it's all seemed to come together more or less by festival time. They're particularly bad at comms, and I don't just mean at festival time when getting a reply off their socials with queries is never gonna happen. It's not a matter of throwing money or any real resources at it, either. I'm sure he's a busy man, but Alex himself could tweet once a week in the off-season to keep people engaged and interested and build buzz. They increasingly seem to rely on early ticket sales to keep the show on the road (selling them at the previous year's fest, pushing the tiers very hard, etc.) but don't seem to put the minimal effort into a few social posts between August and January to help that along. Maybe they're worried about posting because they always get replies from some disgruntled people looking for refunds - the wristband system isn't really perfect). Then it comes to June and July and you can't move for paid Google ads all over the web to shift tickets in a hurry, and then they end up on seat filler services late in the day (which just encourages people to wait and is a vicious cycle). As I'm there with a will-be-seven-year-old (who's been 4, 5 and 6 in our previous years of course) the lineup is less of an issue with us than many festival goers as I don't get to see bands all day like I used to in my teens and 20s and early 30s, but I understand that it's not the easiest fest to book (given the awkwardly medium fest size raising expectations but not having massive pull, its independence from Live Nation and Superstruct, etc.)

Some disquiet on the Standon Calling Locals FB group. Worries that with the late announcement and refund issues that the fest may not happen. Organiser Alex has belatedly popped in today with this: Hi everyone, thanks for your patience and apologies for the lack of communication from me on this page recently. We are working on the 2024 festival and will have some news for you in the next couple of weeks. If you have an outstanding customer service ticket or are awaiting a refund for anything relating to 2023’s festival, we’ll be coming back to you by the end of the month, and sincere apologies to anyone who has experienced a delay. Thanks for your ongoing support, speak soon. Very best, Alex

Last year's forum action was bolted on to the 2022 thread, so I thought I'd start a proper one for this year. Anyone already got their ticket? We got ours last year the Earlybird discount (it's pretty local and we've been going since 2021 with our kid, so being nearby is a big bonus regardless of who's playing). Ticket prices have gone up a fair bit (though I suppose everything has). This time last couple of years we already had the headliners announced IIRC. They'e been promising an announcement "in the New Year", so I'm hoping for something soon. The organisation is generally okay (I'll forgive them the 2021 rained off Sunday because that storm was BIBLICAL), though it does feel like a wee bit more investment/care here and there would make things a lot smoother, but hey, that's festivals for you. It's a really fun festival, pretty family friendly and a good medium-sized event that's forced to be quite creative/forward-thinking in a lot of the lineup, because it's never going to get the biggest artists (along with an admittedly fair smattering of Festival Filler and nostalgia acts).

When we went in 2022, they alternated the two stages, so you could see everything if you really want to. The Acorn Stage headliner finished up just before the main stage headliner began. Unless things change drastically I'm assuming it's the same again, because the site is small enough that the potential sound bleed wouldn't really allow simultaneous stages I don't think. https://www.folkbytheoak.com/news/festival-schedule-announced/ I definitely agree that the lineup needs a couple more bigger names to really pull off "great lineup" ... fingers crossed! They're promising two more main stage artists, and four more on the Acorn Stage. The Acorn Stage is teeny tiny, so I'm not imagining anyone too major there.

Announced mid-December... though it looks like I'm possibly the only person from here who's interested! Kora master and Folk by the Oak favourite Seckou Keita this time returning with his uplifting, upbeat Homeland Band. Also returning are the three great friends and exceptionally talented musicians that make up The Young'uns. We're thrilled to welcome for the first time The Furrow Collective, a collaboration between 4 seriously talented individuals, a heady mix of exceptional musicianship and fine vocal harmonies from Lucy Farrell, Rachel Newton, Emily Portman and Alasdair Roberts. Headlining our Acorn Stage this year is the legend that is Beans on Toast – renowned for live shows that are both unpredictable and memorable, packed with songs to make you laugh and songs to make you think. Also on the Acorn Stage we have 2 up-and-coming trios who are fast gaining a reputation as the future of folk - Malin Lewis Trio and Grace Smith Trio. Playlist for those interested on Spotify

Headliner announced: Levellers Every year we ask our audience who they want to see perform at Folk by the Oak, and since Levellers headlined in 2017 they have remained in the top 3 bands our audience have been clamouring for. One of the most sought-after festival bands in the country, we are thrilled to be welcoming back Levellers with a set packed full of their much loved tracks! ... Of course, the Levellers you will see at Folk by the Oak will be the electric version, literally and metaphorically, as they close our Main Stage with another rousing, high energy set packed with the tracks you know and love. Anyone else going? We went along a couple of years ago (Proclaimers/Richard Thompson/The Unthanks/Spell Songs). It's local to us, very relaxed, small but not too small (just a couple of stages) and pretty good value. Never seen Levellers before and would quite like to, so I'm pleased.

They're pushing earlybird tickets really hard this year, fwiw - LOTS of emails and competition entry for lifetime passes if you bought early etc.

Yeah this was my experience (on The Strokes day). The handler was trying to play the bad cop bully and was totally full of it ("where are the drugs?!??" "Errr... I don't have any drugs", "the dog says otherwise"), while everyone else was just doing their job. I don't *think* she was profiling, just thrusting the dog at people and getting a trickle through to be searched. Maybe she's on a target. My idea? Put her on a commission next time based on drugs found: people searched. Might make her a bit more discerning.

Much more to the side than it looks on the map! Viewing angle not bad but still...

My wife got us fancy pants tickets so walked straight in.. plus ten minutes searching time!!

I just got sniffed by a very cute but (over)attentive sniffer dog and a bolshy security lady ordered me to hand over my drugs. I don't have any drugs, so said as much. She told me I was obviously lying because of the dog and that. Anyway, I got searched by a much more polite security lady, who obviously confirmed that I'm a very lame 41 year old dad whose drug says are far behind them and sent me on my way. Now I'm just convinced that sniffer dogs, at least in a hectic festival environment, are at least partially theatre and pretext for searching people.

A lot of festivals and one-dayers seem to be really aggressively pricing tickets and then just as aggressively doing giveaways/seat-filling in the last few weeks this year. It's certainly a strategy (and genuinely maybe even a "good" one, financially for them) but surely at some point word gets out and more people start hanging back on buying at full whack unless it's something they're desperate to see or at a high risk of selling out?

Final acts added: https://readdork.com/news/all-points-east-23-final-names/ Stormzy – This Is What We Mean Day – Friday 18 August Tay Iwar Tamera Natanya Trebla. The Strokes – Friday 25 August FEET L’Objectif Jungle – UK Exclusive – Saturday 26 August Wet FLOHIO Elkka – Live Sofia Isella Future Utopia Blumi Parallels Dermot Kennedy – Sunday 27 August Chromeo Kingfishr The Big Idea Megzz HAIM – European Exclusive – Bank Holiday Monday 28 August Griff Isabel LaRosa Kaeto Unflirt