Simon Says....

[Shane (Skirky)]

Do we possibly have a slight topic drift?

DW

Welcome to TalkAWhile.

 

[Lubiloo (Lorna)]

Heavens! Surely we aren't about to have a Tay-Tay thread!  

[Shane (Skirky)]

If they had the courage to put on a "fire sale" - e.g. as of now, all tickets £100 per person, get the punters in, get it sold out, then I might consider coming. Total fantasy scenario, though...

I'd be royally pissed off if haveing coughed my cash ages ago, which helps cash flow, somebody who left it to the last few weeks could get it at a reduced rate. And that aside all that says is "next year, dont buy tickets when  they go on sale, wait until the last fortnight and grab a bargain..."  next result is much fewer tx sales, bigger panic, possible early cancellation though woeful ticket sales.

Assuming of course there is a 2025, which im beginning to seriously doubt given Simon's message and the general trends of festivals collapsing.

Pearl Jam London gig prices have apparently been cut drastically to try and get an audience in, with no refunds for those who've already spent £100 or more extra to the current pricing.

I see that due to an unfortunate incidence of illness in the band, Pearl Jam have had to cancel their half-empty show at a day’s notice. Not great news if you’ve booked travel, hotels and paid an exorbitant ‘booking fee’.

[davidmjs]

If they had the courage to put on a "fire sale" - e.g. as of now, all tickets £100 per person, get the punters in, get it sold out, then I might consider coming. Total fantasy scenario, though...

I'd be royally pissed off if haveing coughed my cash ages ago, which helps cash flow, somebody who left it to the last few weeks could get it at a reduced rate. And that aside all that says is "next year, dont buy tickets when  they go on sale, wait until the last fortnight and grab a bargain..."  next result is much fewer tx sales, bigger panic, possible early cancellation though woeful ticket sales.

Assuming of course there is a 2025, which im beginning to seriously doubt given Simon's message and the general trends of festivals collapsing.

Pearl Jam London gig prices have apparently been cut drastically to try and get an audience in, with no refunds for those who've already spent £100 or more extra to the current pricing.

I see that due to an unfortunate incidence of illness in the band, Pearl Jam have had to cancel their half-empty show at a day’s notice. Not great news if you’ve booked travel, hotels and paid an exorbitant ‘booking fee’.

That is shoddy as ****.  Unimpressive (to say the least).

[bassline (Mike)]

Similar to the Heart show I got tickets for being cancelled due to illness, along with John From Austin saying sales in the States were less than capacity. At least I got a full refund and travel and hotels were not an issue.

Cinema attendances are also way down at the moment.
I guess with the cost of living situation, entertainment is less a priority than food and bills for more and more folks.

[GubGub (Al)]

Similar to the Heart show I got tickets for being cancelled due to illness, along with John From Austin saying sales in the States were less than capacity. At least I got a full refund and travel and hotels were not an issue.

Cinema attendances are also way down at the moment.
I guess with the cost of living situation, entertainment is less a priority than food and bills for more and more folks.

In the case of cinema attendances, the lack of decent films doesn't help. I generally go to the cinema at least once a week but have only been once in the last three months and that was for a documentary. There is just nothing inspiring making it to my local screens at the moment.

[Dubai Danny]

Yes, that is absolutely the case. I genuinely would not recognise a single Taylor Swift song

As said, you almost certainly know at least one Taylor Swift song without realising it's a Taylor Swift song

And I contend I almost certainly don't. Where would I have heard it? I don't consume any media where mainstream music is being played

Lots of people like to say things like that, but unless you are almost literally living in a cave with no access whatsoever to the everyday world, it's extremely difficult to so completely isolate yourself from mainstream popular culture that you have literally no contact at all with any aspect of it.

I've lost count of the number of times I've heard a modern song or artist being mentioned, and I've never heard of it, but when I actually hear it, I realise that I do recognise it. Things get played in the background of the modern world all the time.

Put another way... it's vastly more likely that you've heard a Taylor Swift song without realising that it's a Taylor Swift song, than it is that you've never ever heard a Taylor Swift song.

Unless you really do live in a cave, of course

[kenhughes]

Is this thread not about the future of the Festival?

Obviously, I am not a frequent contributor on here and part of the inner circle, but do put stuff on Fairporters and Fairports Cropredy Festival on FB.

The village are very much behind the continuation. This is no small factor in how the festival moves ahead.

The Brasenose are exploiting the opportunity, and while not affecting the attendance directly, are making a difference. Does this affect the real festival? I am not sure, but please contribute to the discussion.

Field 8 are very much the low key insidious player. They do not charge for attendance, but £130 for camping is a big profit when added to their money making from the bar and food! Is this a good thing?

I am delighted to contribute to the festival by being there, eating in the village, eating on the field, getting CDs in the tent, buying mech from the tent and above all else trusting to the festival team that I will ultimately like the acts on the bill. Am I wrong to do this?

Is the one stage the best thing? I think it is, but how would a change work in future festivals at the same venue?

Are chairs a good thing for the demographic? They are now part of the fabric of the festival, but how should they be managed?

There are more festival related subjects that are directly correlated to Simon's original post we could contribute to.

[davidmjs]

Is this thread not about the future of the Festival?

Obviously, I am not a frequent contributor on here and part of the inner circle, but do put stuff on Fairporters and Fairports Cropredy Festival on FB.

The village are very much behind the continuation. This is no small factor in how the festival moves ahead.

The Brasenose are exploiting the opportunity, and while not affecting the attendance directly, are making a difference. Does this affect the real festival? I am not sure, but please contribute to the discussion.

Field 8 are very much the low key insidious player. They do not charge for attendance, but £130 for camping is a big profit when added to their money making from the bar and food! Is this a good thing?

I am delighted to contribute to the festival by being there, eating in the village, eating on the field, getting CDs in the tent, buying mech from the tent and above all else trusting to the festival team that I will ultimately like the acts on the bill. Am I wrong to do this?

Is the one stage the best thing? I think it is, but how would a change work in future festivals at the same venue?

Are chairs a good thing for the demographic? They are now part of the fabric of the festival, but how should they be managed?

There are more festival related subjects that are directly correlated to Simon's original post we could contribute to.

I think the point was made (at least partially by me) at some point in this thread or a similar one that the organisers missed the boat with the whole desire to remain stubbornly one staged (despite being virtually the only 3-day festival I can think of that is) thereby allowing outside parties (of whatever intent) to step in an monetise their own events, which wouldn't happen without the audience driven by the festival.  It's a classic victim of your own success thing.  In my own view there are only two options from this point - follow the commercial trail and eventually freeing the 'Cropredy Convention' from the imprisonment of being Fairport's festival (I don't mean commercially, I mean 'musically' and to do with its heritage), or return to being a much smaller celebration of Fairport Convention's history and other similar music.  I'm not sure the first would work - there's a lot of chasing your tail to do with that one.  The second could work but on a much, much smaller scale.  It won't happen though...

[Lubiloo (Lorna)]

Nice discussion points, Ken and David.

I think if chairs went, 70%+ of the current demographic would find it impossible to attend. It is lucky at Cropredy that people can still take chairs and their own food/drinks as well.

Chairs seem okay…if people stay inside the walkway lines which most do, then they aren’t an issue…(now let’s not mention huge blankets with ten chairs round them and the owners having vacated the space to go off for hours! Nor start the dog and baby debate.)  

More than one stage would totally change the nature of it, I like the idea of it going back to something smaller and more folk-based.

[bassline (Mike)]

Ken, the thread strayed a bit because it's not just Cropredy that is facing issues, but other festivals, other music events, and other forms of entertainment.

Some are doing fine...Beautiful Days has sold out, as one example.

We have been exploring different thoughts as to why this may be.
Some to do with the festival itself, some to do with external events.

As with most conversations, there is a bit of topic drift and irrelevancies that crop up now and then.

But that's people for you...they do like to Talkawhile.

[Adam]

Field 8 is an excellent point. Would it exist in the future in any format without Cropredy? I know a few people who don’t bother with the ‘main’ festival and just hang around there or the village. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, just another factor. I’ve always liked the extra/fringe events (does anyone remember the big screen somewhere near the canal showing Rocky Horror?), but the balance has definitely tipped away from Fairport being the reason for the majority to attend.  Cropredy holds a very special place in my heart, having spent a weekend there for my entire adult life (from the day I got my A level results in 1989 to 2024 as a 53 year old with dodgy knees), but everything has a natural shelf life (including my knees it seems). I’d love a one-day, ‘Fairport and friends’ event with fringy stuff the night before, but appreciate that it is not practical.

[GubGub (Al)]

Yes, that is absolutely the case. I genuinely would not recognise a single Taylor Swift song

As said, you almost certainly know at least one Taylor Swift song without realising it's a Taylor Swift song

And I contend I almost certainly don't. Where would I have heard it? I don't consume any media where mainstream music is being played

Lots of people like to say things like that, but unless you are almost literally living in a cave with no access whatsoever to the everyday world, it's extremely difficult to so completely isolate yourself from mainstream popular culture that you have literally no contact at all with any aspect of it.

I've lost count of the number of times I've heard a modern song or artist being mentioned, and I've never heard of it, but when I actually hear it, I realise that I do recognise it. Things get played in the background of the modern world all the time.

Put another way... it's vastly more likely that you've heard a Taylor Swift song without realising that it's a Taylor Swift song, than it is that you've never ever heard a Taylor Swift song.

Unless you really do live in a cave, of course

Can someone who knows how split this off into its own thread please? I would like to respond but don't want to further clutter this thread.

[kenhughes]

Ken, the thread strayed a bit because it's not just Cropredy that is facing issues, but other festivals, other music events, and other forms of entertainment.

Some are doing fine...Beautiful Days has sold out, as one example.

We have been exploring different thoughts as to why this may be.
Some to do with the festival itself, some to do with external events.

As with most conversations, there is a bit of topic drift and irrelevancies that crop up now and then.

But that's people for you...they do like to Talkawhile.

You make good points :-)

[simon frisby]

Is this thread not about the future of the Festival?

Obviously, I am not a frequent contributor on here and part of the inner circle, but do put stuff on Fairporters and Fairports Cropredy Festival on FB.

The village are very much behind the continuation. This is no small factor in how the festival moves ahead.

The Brasenose are exploiting the opportunity, and while not affecting the attendance directly, are making a difference. Does this affect the real festival? I am not sure, but please contribute to the discussion.

Field 8 are very much the low key insidious player. They do not charge for attendance, but £130 for camping is a big profit when added to their money making from the bar and food! Is this a good thing?

I am delighted to contribute to the festival by being there, eating in the village, eating on the field, getting CDs in the tent, buying mech from the tent and above all else trusting to the festival team that I will ultimately like the acts on the bill. Am I wrong to do this?

Is the one stage the best thing? I think it is, but how would a change work in future festivals at the same venue?

Are chairs a good thing for the demographic? They are now part of the fabric of the festival, but how should they be managed?

There are more festival related subjects that are directly correlated to Simon's original post we could contribute to.

I have heard say, that relations between the folks at 'Field 8' and the Brasenose and Main festival are....difficult....

[kenhughes]

 
[/quote]

I have heard say, that relations between the folks at 'Field 8' and the Brasenose and Main festival are....difficult....
[/quote]

If that is the case it might not be a surprise.

[davidmjs]

From Fairporters on FB where the author posted this (from Today's Times)

"With great thanks to Simon Nicol, Stevie and Andy at Iconic,
Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, Katherine Priddy, Joe Heap (Towersey), Claire Horton and many more for helping me pull together this piece on the endangered species that is the folk festival"

[Metro96 (Keith)]

Field 8 are very much the low key insidious player. They do not charge for attendance, but £130 for camping is a big profit when added to their money making from the bar and food! Is this a good thing?

That £130 is for 6 nights camping.
£21.66 per night for 1 unit and 2 adults is very reasonable I think?
But then I am a little bit biased.

[simon frisby]

Glasto is having a fallow year next year. Other festivals have normally reaped the benefits the last few times they've done that.

[Lubiloo (Lorna)]

Glasto is having a fallow year next year. Other festivals have normally reaped the benefits the last few times they've done that.

2026 actually.