TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Hi there.
I'm the latest newbie on this forum and although I play jazz saxophone my musical roots are firmly in folk music (Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Bob Dylan etc). At the moment I am re-tracing these roots and re-listening too all my old albums....a wonderful nostalgia trip. This year I am hoping to go to the Cropready Festival and as this will be my first visit are there any tips, advice etc any of you old timers can pass on.
Cheers.
Bryn

Buy beer, look for helpful folks in fezzies or tiaras - buy beer for helpful folks in fezzies or tiaras.

Or go to http://www.fairportconvention.com/crop/cropguide.htm for useful tips.

Cheers,

Jackdaw  :)

Jackdaw has pretty well said it all, except allow plenty of time for the last mile or two of the journey. There's a lot of cars piling in to Cropredy.

The fezheads  [;-) will probably be meeting at the pavilion for a few jars of Hook Norton's finest on Thursday lunchtime. Come and say hello Bryn.

There's some really good info on Fairport's website if you haven't already found it, start here with FAQs and Virgin's guide: http://www.fairportconvention.com/crop/cropmenu.htm

A conversation for another day, when you find your way into the Corporation Arms Bryn, but you said Jazz Saxophone?  I play Jazz (ish) flute (not very well).  Have to have a chat at Croppers...

beware of the cattlegrids?
and the helpful people in tiaras and fezzez!
waterproofs, sun hat, money, money, more money, that about covers it ;D

Buy your tickets early, they are cheaper. :)

Enjoy your first time.

Don't fly a bloody great flag directly in my line of view.

...and don't set up sofa and chairs at the front of the stage otherwise there will be words...!!!!!

Hope that hasn't scared you too much Bryn! :o

Welcome to here and by the time Crop comes round, I'm sure you'll know practically everybody

 :D

Jude

Disregard the weather forecast & prepare for alll weathers - usually all in the same day !!!

Lightweight waterproofs essential just in case...............and shorts just in case the other way..................and a church key ( bottle opener ) .........and something to sit on, unless you're one of these fit young things who can spend 5-6 hours cross legged on the ground................and a cast iron liver......................

Welcome Bryn!

Aha! A suspiciously WELSH name there, I think..... ;D

Come along and meet us fezzed and tiarad lot. Wear one yourself, if you dare ::)

You'll have a wonderful time, I guarantee. Last year was my first Cropredy - and I just can't wait for the second.

See you in August, Bryn {:-)

Gower Flower

Hi there.
Many thanks everyone for your kind words and advice. So lets see if I've got this straight:
1. Arrive early.
2. Drive around until you find a traffic que, then join it.
3. Set up my sun lounger, camping table and chairs, and large Welsh flag only in the designated area in front of the stage.
4. Drink lots of beer.
5. Wear a fez so that everyone will think you are a helpful and friendly person.
6. Drink lots of beer.
7.Wearing a fez makes people want to buy you beer.
Once a thanks everyone for your help. So hopefully I shall meet you all at the Festival.
Cheers.
Bryn.
PS - Now where can I buy a fez ?

Just one omission - You only said "Drink Lots of Beer" twice, and it's a three day festival!  ;D

yup, reckon yer in there then mate! ;D

except we were serious about the sofas and the flags.............................


fez shop down the old canal street in bourton.
'cropredy millinary' -r- us.com.org@mad@ters.co.urlmad.guv


cool! ;D

Occasionally visit the Real Sausage Company. Most vital as it greases the beer tracts. Infact it's like those mutually dependant plants and creatures; the sausage causes a need for beer and the beer sends you in the direction of the sausage.

An excellent arrangement.

Puggs  :)

Do NOT buy those disgusting Welsh leek pasties from the field . Take a walk into the village .Go to the Bridge Stores and buy a propper Cornish pastie or 6 and take a walk back to the field .Sit down and eat them  still hot whilst sharing some of them with me and a 6x or 2 [;-).Delicious  :P [;-)

Or buy a sausage

There's the remains of a site about Cropredy 2001 to 2004 HERE (http://www.faircrop.co.uk)

Look for the 'reports' pages.

The Pork & Chilli ones are great. They really do build up a need for more beer, and very rapidly.  ;D ;D ;D

i recommend a walk down the lane to the school for breakfast in a bun and lots of tea, and very good value too.
(and i'm with puggz on the sausage thing)

Cropredy without sausages would be like - well, the bar without any beer - unthinkable !!

Although I did bring someone along last year who I believed to be a dedicated carnivore - and he gorged on goat's cheese pasties which he raved about...............I did also note that the old English custom of a beer and a curry - which I believe dates back to Medieavaltimes - is alive and well in the main field, especially after about 9pm.

So lots of friendly, helpful people to meet. Lots of very interesting yummies to eat. Lots of beers to sample and of course to quench the thirst. So when do I find time to listen to some music ???
All sounds like a great weekend.......Roll on August.

Cheers..Bryn  8)

You listen to the music while doing everything else, only concentrating on it for your favourites or for things which grab your attention. And they will.

Indeed, it is hard to escape it. A local told me the the day after that the Dylan Project were audible three miles away. The sound system is "adequate" as Rolls Royce used to say.

can a mod alter the title of this to correct the seplilng?



Edit: Done!

one of the great things about crop is that it ISNT huge and rambling, ie there is only one stage and everything is laid out in a 'circle' in front of/around it, so you cant actually miss anything unless you go off site or back to your tent.
i think most people set their stuff out on their spot in the field and stay there for the duration, just getting up to eat/drink/shop/ ablute! (delete as neccessary)
its also good because you dont have to choose between different stages and which band you want to forfeit seeing in favour of another.
i had to choose between lenny kravitz and the orb one year - chose lenny and was disappointed so went and caught the end of the orb whon were excellent and wished i'd seen it all!

Hi Bryn

Another newbie.  The easiest place to buy a fez would probably be Saracens rugby union website, i think they are a fiver each.  Hope that helps.  See Saracens.com

try IM-ing adrian, he has a loverly fez!

I bought it from Colin, who arranged a bulk purchase way back when.

Maybe its time for Fezs, Tiaras and flashing things to be on sale again, to keep the tradition going.

Can anybody remember why we chose a Fez as our male headgear? Just because it is fairly unique or some deeper reason?

I think we wanted something which was easy to spot in a crowd of 15,000 people and someone eventually suggested a Fez. there were other suggestions which I can't remember now.

The ladies, quite rightly, complained that wearing a Fez would spoil the expensive hairdos they all had had done for Cropredy so alternatives were suggested and a Tiara was finally decided on.  8)  ;D

Err, because it's a Fez-tival  ???  I'll get me coat...

I could be wrong... someone will say so.   I think it might have been our Ces that suggested the Fez (someone asked just recently and there was an answer, but I can't find it to link to)
As for ruining hair do's.... a look in Andy Leslie's photo album from last years Cropredy will show why a Tiara is kinder than a hat!!! :o (that pic still comes up if you put Cropredy into Google images... eat yer heart out Ena Sharples, you'll know it when you see it)

I shall be sporting a new Tiara this year, and will, of course be accompanied by burly guards at all times ;D ;D ;) ;)
mic

The Frog came up with the original idea. We were just trying to think of something distinctive.

It then proved surprisingly difficult to find them. You can get very cheap cardboard/plastic ones, or very expensive proper ones. In the end I did a bulk order from a company in the States. They were about £12 each and have proved to be of excellent quality.

I can testify to their durability. Mine should still be fine come August. The only problem is I have no idea where it is in the house  >:(


At least I have 4 months to find it   :D

Because it's not often (enough, in my view) that blokes get to wear something with a tassle?  ::) 8) ::)

Any recommendatoins for where those of us who weren't around then can get a decent one at a decent price anyone?

Putting on my old detective hat on now. Could it be that the fez and tiara were chosen because the last 2 icons/smilies shown above are of a cool dude with sunglasses and fez  [;-)  and a smiling lady with a tiara  {:-) ?????

Bryn..... (just call me Barrat Holmes)

Sorry but they came later Bryn. Thanks to Nick if memory serves me right.

its a secret known only to the few of us who have been here since the start
shrouded in mystery and lost in time and space
but if any one wants to send me some money for beer................................................. ::)

Jim, are you allowed to hustle strangers new Boardsters for beer-money-in-exchange-for-dark-and-mysterious-secrets since your ASBO?  ;D ;D

As a 'STRANGER' then I must apologies for intruding into your private space, o old and wise ones !!

Bryn

PS. But were you not all 'strangers' once ?

Jim's always been stranger than most  :o ::) :o

the wise woman says sooth

WE ARE ALL STRANGE  - 'ERS' STIL.
sorry bout rhe caps, typo, not shouting............


abby

(I did IM Bryn to say "sorry if I sounded like a bastard")

And I could be persuaded to lend my fez whilst I'm wearing my tiara, but, blimeyheck! it would take some beer!  ;D ;D

I wouldn't try filling your fez with beer if I were you. They tend to go soggy.  ;) ;D

Paul

  ;D It's true. You're right.  I'll stick with the mouth/tummy/bladder combo  ;D ;D

What about filling someone else's fez with beer, though?   :o ;D

They hold beer better than a tiara does  {:-)

fez as glass needs the two, step one, staple upper fez to lower, top to tail, bringing tassles to the fore, step two, get tall friends(nick>>) to gather round spooling tiara drips into upper fez, three, i say three...., could have been four, have assembled small folkies, in chairs to vibrate slowly in the viscinity, allowing minor spillage to trickle over edge, down tassles and into gobulet...

ps.
should have gone to fez-savers.!! [;-) O0


sorry that was jonesy............. :-\

Here is the item, I think
(http://www.villagehatshop.com/media/vhs-fez.jpg)

Available here
http://www.villagehatshop.com/fez_gold_tassel.html (http://www.villagehatshop.com/fez_gold_tassel.html)

This may be going off-topic slightly but why don't you make a fez?  That's what Ma and Mix did for Bentley Ben: Mix supplied the instructions, I supplied Bentley Ben's measurements and the materials needed - and Ma assembled it (with some help from Bentley Ben).  And I have to say that his fez suits him (see my photo gallery under Wintour 2006 for picture) and he doesn't like taking it off. (I made him take it off for the Oxford Folk Festival to keep it nice) but he's insisted on wearing it again now.

I'm losing the will to live :P

The instructions for making a Fez weren't too difficult to think up really...I reckon anyone could do it if they wanted to :)

Dressmaking!!!! now that's impossible :o

mic

Well....................so was I, but then I saw the picture. Now I'm confused. The fez I can do - although as an Irishman it may not fit over my Guinness hat - but the wicker balaclava might be a problem if trying to drink..................?? How do I get it on ?

Wicker Balaclava? Fantastic! I'll try a pint  ::) ;D ;D

Speaking of things Fez, has anyone seen 'The Fez Heads'??.  They are a 'comedy' dance troupe of guys who wear the gear and do 'performances' .  I've seen them a few times at Wimborne Folk Fest (which never seems to get a mention here!)...nice chaps and very entertaining...... [;-) [;-) [;-)

During the first year of fez wearing I was with a group of Talkawhilers when a lady approached us and asked us when we were dancing.  It transpired that she'd see the 'Fez Heads' at another festival and thought that we were they - She was terribly disappointed when she found out that we weren't!

Back on topic - My sister was a Cropredy virgin last year and she raved about the event so much that her husband has now decided to join us this year as well as some family friends.  How we are going to cope with three Cropredy virgin I really don't know - Probably just get them drunk like the rest of us will be and see what happens.  ;D

We may have a slight problem though as my brother-in-law is expecting hurdy-gurdy solos.

Cheers
Dunc

:o :o Aaaaaggghhhhhh!!!!!!! No, No please no............anything but that........... ;D

Aren't 10cc going to bring their hurdy-gurdy along then ???????????

They can bring what they like, I'll be at the bar drinking  [;-)

I do recall a free concert in Hyde Park - a very long time ago children - ( with Kevin Ayers , Chapman / Whitney Streetwalkers and Gong ) where Nico turned up unannounced and did a 45 minute set armed only with a hurdy-gurdy...................now, each to his or her own, and no doubt there are a few dedicated hurdy-gurdyers out there - but despite the sunshine and a few beers, that was as close as I've ever come to wanting to end it all - so I'll join you at the bar if one makes any appearance on stage...................

was that due to Nico or the hurdy-gurdy?

I'd guess the cause was Nico.

Let's be even handed and say 50% Nico & 50% the hurdy-gurdy. The two are now inseparably linked in my memory. Boy was she a miserable git ! - now that I've brought it all up again. i think I need a reviving pint - I think a pint of Harviestoun's Bitter & Twisted might be just the ticket today....................

I quite like Nico in small doses, but it would seem that much of here life was miserable, despite the opportunities.

I quite like "chelsea girls" but I think it stops there. I wait to be proved wrong!
She had a fascinating life.