Barnsley has been sadly bereft of a folk festival for almost twenty years now and this year a small group of local music enthusiasts, namely Carol Roberts, Stephen Dolman and Hedley Jones, together with a handful of volunteers, decided to put that right and stage a memorable show over the weekend at a couple of familiar locations in the town. Under the heading of the Barnsley Acoustic Roots Festival, this formidable team gathered together some of the best known names in the business for three days of fun and music starting at the Civic in the town centre on Friday night, with a concert featuring the inimitable Eliza Carthy Band as well as local hero Dave Burland and the 'small town boy' Gerry McNeice.
THURSDAY 30 July 2009
At any other time of the year, the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall would more or less echo the tranquility of other more well known city locations, such as the various college gardens or the handful of idyllic beauty spots down by the river, where you might be tempted to idle away a few hours punting or alternatively wander over to Parker's Piece for a bit of a reality check. During the last weekend of July however, Cherry Hinton Hall craftily camouflages itself amongst the foliage, whilst fences divide up the grounds into several familiar sections to be inhabited over the next few days by marquees of varying sizes. Once the structure of the village is in place, then it's down to good old fancy decoration, with colours a-plenty being added, either by children's paintings, lofty flags and bunting, or a selection of cheeky folksy artworks by the artist David Owen; not to mention the huge wicker fiddler who precides over the weekend's events.
Allan Wilkinson1 year 46 weeks ago
Allan Wilkinson2 years 26 weeks ago
Allan Wilkinson3 years 15 weeks ago
Allan Wilkinson3 years 32 weeks ago.JPG)
