See you at the fest

No longer is there a folk festival season. Spring and Summer used to be considered the main period for organised folk music gatherings, but now they are all year round and the number has soared.

The UK-published magazine fRoots, http://www.froots.demon.co.uk, lists several hundred festivals in the British Isles and mainland Europe during this year. There are events every month, peaking in July with 86 festivals including 25 over a single weekend. The festival scene in the US, Australia and elsewhere is also expanding fast.

The range available to folk fans is enormous. There are giant multi-interest international festivals such as Sidmouth in South-West England, Fylde in Northern England and Tonder in Denmark. There's a whole host of large regional events and countless local festivals which nevertheless secure big-name performers and varied programmes.

There are some which specialise in the music of a particular genre or region and some which specialise in specific instruments and include workshops and tuition sessions in their programmes.

There are pros and cons to this festival explosion. On the positive side, festivals make folk and roots music more accessible to a lot more people, presenting a very convenient feast of riches for folk fans. Although permanent concert venues are becoming more adventurous in booking traditional and contemporary folk acts, they can't do so in anything like the numbers feasible for festival organisers.

Festivals are clearly good news for performers, too. The festival circuit has become an important source of work for bands and solo acts who would otherwise have few opportunities beyond small-audience folk clubs. Indeed for many of them the festivals are crucial to making a professional career possible.

The downside? Well, the folk industry has become just that - an industry. It's all very organised, intensive and packaged. This needn't be a problem as long as it doesn't create barriers between the music and its roots, turning it into a commodity processed and packaged like supermarket food.

Festivals are great, but we must avoid any feeling that folk music is only real if it's presented at an organised festival or concert. It can still happen naturally, with spontaneous sessions in the local pub, park or street corner, or even just among friends at home. And when it happens like this it's still folk music - perhaps the truest kind.

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