TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

This topic is intended for general reports covering the whole festival, rather than reviews.

Things like:

Meeting up with people.
Selfies of you with Peggy.
What do you think of the merch?
Food.

There are a lot of people here!  :)

Huge queues for t-shirts yesterday, and one of the 50th shirts had already sold by the time FC Acoustic took the stage.

And only one grumble - people who annexe half an acre with a groundsheet when it is so busy.

Otherwise it's fab so far - let's hope the weather stays fair.

Enjoyable weekend. A couple of acts I really didn't care for but overall pretty darned good. Managed to get one of the last XXL shirts on Friday. Nice company and only a bit of rain on Friday evening.

There were an awful lot of dogs this year.
Why, when the weather is going to be moderate,  people extend the tent guy lines to their full extent?
Too many beach shelters on the arena field.

T shirt queue on Thursday was meandering through the audience and split the crowd. Where we were sitting we were surrounded by the queue and ended up having to move all our stuff, twice. Cant understand why a marshall wasn't on hand to steer it down the white line near the bar.  

A couple of mornings I was able to sit outside my tent watching Red Kites soaring above the field. A truely beautiful site.

You know Phantom Hat Syndrome? I removed it hours ago, before I got in the shower, but I've got Phantom Wristband Syndrome.

More beach shelters than ever this year. Not only beach shelters but small tents too, some of which are higher than the seated sight line. It is a huge PITA when someone rocks up and pitches one in front of you. Whatever happened to the poncho and shower curtain?

I noticed so many people around us this year who clearly weren't interested in the music. One guy playing his radio near us, and a huge amount of people who were holding lengthy conversations, having to shout to be heard above the music. I think some people might be better off going to their local park and chilling out there with the radio on.

Big high five to the crew on field 4. We've been in field 7 the last 4 years and find that it seems to be a race to cram everyone in, with no thought as to how people are going to be able to park a car and set up a tent next to it.

This year in field 4, the crew took time to ask if we were in a convoy, directed us accordingly, and made us wait while people got their cars positioned so that there was room to pitch a tent. Very well organised.

Just a thank you from me to everyone who has posted reviews and comments.
I had one small pang over the weekend at not being there but that was more about people than the bands.
Now if I could just have seen RT's and Fairports sets......

You'd have been in seventh heaven, Dave.

Bob Harris did the afternoon startup intro and there were lots of cameras around, so there's hope for a Sky Arts programme once again, but if so, let's hope they don't butcher the festival as they have in the past.

It was my twentieth  consecutive Cropredy ( a mere beginner compared with some, I know! But a great landmark for me especially as it was their 50th birthday and will also be mine later this year).

We had a wonderful time, despite the facts that  our northern relatives couldn't attend, plus we noted higher levels of selfishness amongst some people in the crowd ( as described by Flossie Fiddler, plus things like using massive shelters quite far down despite being spoken to by a steward, pitching six chairs up when only two were used all day etc...etc)

The food was great, especially ostrich burgers. The shopping was fab, I got some great earrings from Shilpa silver and my man bought me a beautiful heart from the arteangels mosaic stall at the village.

The music was absolutely second to none (apart from a couple not to my taste) and to have Richard Thompson playing so much was the icing on the cake. I know this area is not for reviews, but the Fairport set was exceptionally beautiful.

Whisperin' Bob did do band interviews with artists singing a couple of tracks, but I haven't heard of a Sky doc this year. I suspect any footage will go on ?Bob's Under the Appletree sessions.

Here's hoping for a least a double/triple CD release. Any video presumably being taken from the live screen feeds.

Wow! What a weekend. I have had a few years off. My first Cropredy was 1986. I think I have made 20 or so in that time but could not miss the 50th. Imagine my delight when I turned up on Thursday morning at about 08.30 and got straight into field 4. The omens were good. Personal faves were Trevor Horn Band, Divine Comedy, Richard Thompson, and of course Fairport. Actually the rest of Saturday was the least engaging for me. I am a big prog fan but to me Marillion played music with all the superficial characteristics of prog: length or music, virtuosity etc. but for me it was lacking in basic tunes, engaging riffs, story, heart and soul.  

The other part of Saturday that was a disappointment was Brighton losing to Man City but the fine ales and a bottle of fine Cardinal Mendoza brandy that my friends and I polished off helped with the pain.

The Fairport numbers with RT and DM were pure magic. The entire FC set held me mesmerised and before I knew it was MOTL time. The time flew by. Surely there is a double live album there??

I thought it was all great this year. Loved all the bands in different ways then caught sunburn then almost froze then went home very happy with no traffic trouble.

Overall it was definitely one of the better Cropredys but has it EVER been colder on the campsites than it was on Thursday night ?

There were a few moments this weekend when I was like Marlon Brando at the end of Apocalypse Now -  that bit when he's dying and whispers 'The horror, the horror...'

Except I was going 'The chairs, the chairs...'

My one whinge about chairs and utter selfishness and unCroprediness. I was parked in my chair in a regular spot for me, near the bar and backed up to the white line behind me. I do this so I know I can get in and out easily as due to spinal compression my legs can get shaky so I don't like fighting my way through rows of chairs. There was a natural little gangway next to me that many were using to get in and out of the rows of chairs. (These gaps tend to occur naturally and are reinforced by people using them, like sheep trails.)

Anyway, so then this couple come and park 2 chairs behind me, so obviously outside the white line. Then I  hear this:
Him: "but people are going in and out through there, dear."
Her: "Just block it so they can't."

So I  waited till they were settled in their seats and starting to get comfy, then got up with my stick and turned round and said "sorry, I need to get out".

Well they moved apologetically for me and, strange enough, the gap stayed.

Rant over, everything else was lovely 😊

On Thursday, we were sitting a few places 'in' just above the middle with some friends. It became really hard to get in and out and we saw several people actively turn chairs sideways, with comments showing the aim was  to block the walkway.

We sat by the white line the next two days and felt much happier. The natural walkway was near to us, but this was a good chance to observe and chat to people and their dogs.

Hilariously, a chap came up at about 8pm on Saturday and was perplexed because he had left his chairs and stuff out the night before, intending to return to it!!! Seemed to wonder why other people were all sitting there. Had to explain the field is cleared each day.

I have absolutely no idea:

[attachment deleted by admin]

Doesn't look like he did, either :)

He wandered past us taking a call on the bannana late afternoon Saturday.  I have seen him there before on at least one previous year.  Unless thee is another one.

Banana man is from the kids theatre top 'o field.

Wasn't Bananaman's secret identity 'Eric'?? ::)

There were quite a few "heavy duty" trollies this year, the ones that are about 2' x 4' (60mm x 1200mm) with 4 wheels. Them, and dogs really are a hazard at the end of the night when you are walking along in the dark and your eye line is straight in front of you, not looking down.
   Maybe they could be asked to avoid the main exits for 20 minutes after the show finishes ?

In the past, more of those trolleys have had lights on them to help the unwary avoid them, but I felt that there were less that were lit up this year.  I didn't get hit by them in the dark, but I was with others who were - and then got glared at as if it was their fault for not seeing the trolley in the first place!

One was even being towed by an electric wheelchair.....with a small child in it.

That, I believe, is Palfi the clown........Daisy thought he was fab when she was little.  He spends far too much time on the phone.......Nick, I bet it's not filled with brandy!

I think perhaps a higher proportion camped this year with impact upon the facilities. We ended up in the far corner of 7b. On our side of the field were 2 sets of loos, both of which were smelling badly by Thursday night. Their infrequent (or at least not frequent enough) service intervals meant that they ran out of loo rolls & hand disinfectant every day. Unlike, say, Field 2 in the past, no Sunday morning refresh took place and they were frankly disgusting by the time we left.

Coming through  >:(

I might just be being grumpy, but this year I did seem to suffer more from people just barging through to get to the front. I like to watch from about half a dozen rows from the front.

This year there just seemed to be a lot of people who thought they were at a different festival and just charged through, elbowing themselves to the front. Pointing a finger, I 'd say they were mostly 18-30s.

Anybody else have this, or was it just me?

Out of curiosity, for which acts?

Edit: Actually it was worst during Fairport - Colin

I saw a bit of it, but probably no more than in previous years, to be honest.  But yes, the age range was probably about right.

Overall it was a great Cropredy for us. The line-up was IMHO not brilliant but we went along for the craic and we certainly enjoyed that. We were in Field 4 which we were very happy with, it being close to the cricket club, shop and village and only a short walk to the main field.
The Loos on Field 4 were awful and not stocked up/cleaned nearly enough.
There seemed to be less loos on the main field this year and they frequently ran out of paper/sanitiser.
I've moaned about the traffic management elsewhere.
The fringe was brilliant
Colin I know what you mean about the "bargers" and it's just not Cropredy  :( but they're the next generation (as I'm constantly told) and my old-fashioned way of good manners and courtesy is seen as weakness and loser behaviour. Same with those that take up a huge area in the field, or screech at 3am for no reason. No idea what we do about it though other than tut  :-\

It's mad, isn't it? Because there are times when those who don't have chairs need to sit down as well, if only for a short rest. And as you can't sit in the ever more crowded walkways, the only solution is to use the 'sheep trails' (as StephenB calls them) until you find a patch of grass in amongst the serried rows of the already seated. So when certain people attempt to block your way or discourage you from intruding on 'their' territory by spreading themselves and their paraphernalia out as far as they can, you can find yourself feeling apologetic and guilty for daring to be there. It's become a bit like that awkward moment in the middle of a theatre performance or a film at the cinema when you have to go to the loo and everyone has to shift to let you go by - but this is a field and there is no reserved seating!

To be fair, the vast majority of seat-dwellers at Cropredy are lovely, accomodating people but there were some strange hinterlands to the rear of the sound tower where the Neighbourhood Watch Brigade and their 'Quiet-in-the-library!' approach to music festivals seemed to hold sway. At one point, my back and legs rehabilitated after a short rest in their company, I decided I'd much rather get back amongst the jolly and wobbly people standing at the front. As I carefully picked my way through the tutting, clearly irritated characters sitting along the sheep trail, all that was missing was the sound of a tolling bell and the Faith Militant calling out 'Shame...shame...'

Still got Phantom Wristband Syndrome, by the way.

I found most people were much more accommodating when I was using my stick.

Only grumble I had were the huge groundsheets which had more to do with establishing territory than convenience.

When people are not sitting on the ground what is the point of them anyway?

Forgot to mention that I managed to get in 20 minutes meditation Friday morning - that's how quiet Field 4 was! This was after watching the buzzards circle. I wonder what they made of it all!

Plenty of abandoned food for the Buzzards, Crows and Kites!

One wonders just how you were using it!  ;D

When I ventured into Andy's spot after the toast, there was plenty of room in front of them to swing m,ore than a cat! Several more chairs could have got in there.

The chair line needs to be straight across the field, in my opinion, having it as a crescent meant that there were chairs nearly to the fence on both sides, which made it difficult to get in and out of the standing area at busy times (and in the dark) as the gangway was too small. .

On all 3 days we were near a certain "huge" blue tarpaulin which was established before we got there (same last year as well) and, unfortunately this area was largely occupied by members of the Chris Leslie family (+ various hangers on) who appeared to have no interest in any of the music when they were actually there as a lot of the time the area was left unoccupied.

He has definitely missed a trick.



[attachment deleted by admin]

I thought that was an implement for avoiding the need for a trip to the loo.....until I read the file name!

Brilliant !

A good six of the best will do them good.

This year's Peggy selfie

[attachment deleted by admin]

Brilliant photo!! Peggy is a legend. What a man.

Aside from the average line up the biggest disappointment was the lack of space. The whole "bring the contents of your garden" thing is just out of control. Chairs being pushed closer to the front, more dogs than ever and a new concept of vertical pop up tents like plastic phone boxes, so that you can keep your soda bread and your copy of the Guardian dry.
I dont buy into this "German tourist beach towel" model of running in the gate with a chair and staking a claim.
Please next year just shrink the chair areas to half the size, if you want to sit then sit n the ground.
Its either that or I am bringing my 16 piece rattan garden set, with parasol and chiminea !

Please somebody get a grip before the best festival in the country, becomes an all seater !





Huge queues for t-shirts yesterday, and one of the 50th shirts had already sold by the time FC Acoustic took the stage.

And only one grumble - people who annexe half an acre with a groundsheet when it is so busy.

Otherwise it's fab so far - let's hope the weather stays fair.
[/quote]

The family near us on all three days had two tables, a trolley, a doggy bed and six chairs, together with the food and wine contents of a large fridge, seemed to have the "home from home" thing down to a t.

That was a tad OTT, IMHO.

Just look around you.  We are society which feels the need to pump everything up to twice its required size as it screams "This is MINE" to everyone else.  Just look in the car park - nothing but wretchedly huge vehicles, all wider than the average parking space so we can force our fat arses into the comfy armchairness of our sparkly new Q5.  It's hardly surprising if the same logic now applies to going to a festival.  Yuk.

Chairs I am happy with, i cant sit on the grass for long nowdays,  a small ground sheet so you can sleep, also walk over dont bother me much. But why the tables, large trolleys, huge "look at me" flag poles and tents.  

This year i actually found it easier to get to and from our chairs as the lines were straighter. The only issue is the lines of chairs with no gaps along the paths, meaning you have to wallk to the end path and then come through the right aisle.  We had people coming through all the time, didnt worry me.  We took less in this year than we have done in the past and it was so much easier to carry than before.  

Though on seeing some of the trolleys, we did think about building a drivable motorised trolley that had a sofa, solar powered/battery fridge, personal wifi, gps tracking to take us direct to the same spot each day and a top speed of about 30mph

"so you can sleep".....there is a tent for that, I wish people weren't quite so lazy. Max 10mins average back to a tent, maybe 15mins tops (average).

generaly a snooze rather than a sleep, sun bathing when possible, also sometimes more comfortable stretched out, rahter than hunched in a chair. (oh and not generally me asleep).

People could moan about those that stand around the bar all day, or the que's for signings blocking the access, but i dont!

Did anyone see the people with the massive polystyrene boxes! they were like shipping crates!

There is plenty of space for all.  Its safety that bothers me. However, I have never taken a chair on to the field and do sit on the grass(or Denise Reeds matt).

As the administrator of a football club I have to re-read and enforce the ground safety regulations (HSA Blue book)year on year. We would not be allowed to channel 2,000 people through an undefined and narrow exit, let alone the bulk of 20,000. And if anyone attempted to set up chairs in the exitway then we would be closed down until they were removed.

At times this year people leaving after an act on the front left , were channelled into too small a space by the chair encroachment almost to 10 feet of the stage rails. Then the crowd watching an act at the strategically awfully placed Radio Oxford Tent blocked the front of the surge. Very very dangerous.

We were very lucky that the Cropredy Crowd are so decent. If there had been pushing and a fall had occurred we could have seen a disaster. It takes less than a minute to die of asphyxiation and I fear the festival could not recover from a death caused so carelessly. I expect organisers might find themselves in Jail.

I wrote a message  to GW almost as soon as I got home, Unfortunately I have yet to receive a reply,hence publishing my concern.

The solution is very simple, Take the far right and far left of the chair line back 10 foot, instal mid height  barriers (3ft) for 10 yards. On the left in a line towards Leon's, and re-site the radio Oxford tent to the far side of the Merchandise Marquee.

If that was done the issue would be ended.

I agree with everything you say. Also, what if there were a security incident? Can I share your post on the Fairporters Facebook group?

Lot of sense Trev.

Yes it is a lot of sense. Working in insurance I'm extra aware of "but we never thought anything would happen" style incidents. It just takes a bit of thought and planning to avoid a disaster. I agree the Oxford tent needs to be moved and a few barriers would help to keep chairs back.
I will never cease to be amazed by the complete lack of common sense of some people -  you see them plonking their chairs yards away from the next person and wonder why the field fills so quickly. Can we screen people for a bit of nous before they're allowed a ticket?  ??? ::)

I was caught up in a bottleneck outside the Radio Oxford tent at one point. Some of the Morris On band were performing (in the tent) so I guess I must have been on my way from the bar to the front to see either Jude or Plainsong. I was a little irritated and slightly bemused to find my progress to the stage so impeded in such a large, outdoors space but, for others, tempers were definitely fraying. Take into account the children, the elderly, the disabled and the well-on-their-way-to-being pissed who were also in that claustrophobic crush and it was, as others have pointed out, the proverbial accident waiting to happen.

Just one from me, showers in Field 7 were great quality and FREE but nowhere near enough of them, I would rather have had a small charge levied and three times the quantity.

DW

Something to do with the British obsession with 'privacy'. Only a matter of time before someone brings net curtains to surround their area  ;D

Why would anyone go to a festival for privacy?

I think it's similar to "loo etiquette". When two men enter a loo equipped with 3 urinals, what are the odds that either will use the center urinal?

But when the loos get busy, one of them wouldn't put his bag in the one next to him ( hygiene considerations aside...) to keep his personal space...

You may just have put your finger on why I rarely go to them anymore.

To be fair, I was only attempting to explain this behavior:

Introducing the rest of the undesirable behaviors causes the explanation to fall apart quite quickly.

I thought you were taking the p*ss, so I was just trying to inject a bit of toilet hunour  🙄

 :-[

Doh! I missed it! ****!

Stand closer then

Where's the challenge in that?
OK, back to topic, now.

Overall I think it might just be my favourite Cropedy of my 16 year attendance. They never have my ideal line up (Yes, Simple Minds, Dave Gilmore, Deacon Blue, Neil Young etc etc), and yet every year I see and hear bands I never knew who blow me away. Yes, it was very very busy, probably the busiest I have ever seen it, and yes, I was pushed further up the field by large groups hogging space, but the atmosphere was excellent, mostly people were civil, and Fairport were, as ever, wandering the field and being chatty. It was a fantastic weekend, helped by the weather, and the meteor shower. ps Toilets in field 6 seemed fine.