Festivals by the lorryload

Not long ago June, July and August would have been considered the folk festival season, and it was relatively modest. Throughout Europe there were maybe half a dozen major festivals and a scattering of smaller ones.

In recent years the number of events, large and small, has soared and there is no longer a festival season - they're all year round.

The UK-published magazine folkRoots, 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 80 festivals including 23 over a single weekend.

OK, so is this explosion of festivals to be welcomed? On the whole, yes. But with reservations.

On the positive side, festivals make folk and roots music more accessible to a lot more people. 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.

The advertisements for some of the bigger festivals look like a roll-call of all the big-name performers plus many lesser-known ones and newcomers, presenting a very convenient feast of riches for folk fans. For example the Fylde Folk Festival in Lancashire, England, in September, http://www.fylde-folk-festival.com, is presenting more than 60 acts over its three days.

Festivals are clearly a boon to 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.

So what's the downside? Well, more of a niggling worry, really. The concern is that 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.

This is folk music, music of the people - not a commodity processed and packaged like supermarket food. We must be careful to avoid any feeling that folk music is only real if it's presented at an organised festival or folk club.

Festivals are great, but folk music doesn't have to be 'put on' by what has become a big professional business. It can still happen naturally and we should try to encourage that it does, with spontaneous sessions in the local pub, park or street corner, or even just among pals in the kitchen. It's still folk music - perhaps the truest kind.

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