Monthly Archives: August 2019

Bunkfest 2019

Wallingford Bunkfest is often our last local dance-out of the season. It’s always a fun day out.

As usual we danced at several locations around the town and the festival ground. We started the day on the early shift in front of the main stage.

Main stage

In front of the main stage.

Sticking

Pete and Mick concentrate.

Musicians and main stage

Havoc musicians in front of the main stage.

Poor Nigel had had a recent close encounter with a surgeon, and was out of action, but turned out to lend support.

Nigel and stick

Is that stick to walk with, or to belabour bad dancers?

After which it was off to the Boathouse and the back to the Dance Stage on the Kinecroft before lunch.

In the festival Dance Stage.

.. and the lines are looking straight for once.

A fair morning’s work. After that we got a few hours break before finishing the day outside the Dolphin.

On top of the White Horse

The White Horse Folk Festival is a small festival based around Grove that usually happens somewhere in mid August. We’ve taking part in it in previous years. This year, though, there weren’t enough of us to join in for the full day.

But the weekend was also marking the 60th birthday of those stalwarts of the Vale of the White Horse, the Icknield Way Morris Men. We did, at least, manage to join them and some other guests near the top of Dragon Hill, just above the White Horse, to start the day with a dance or two in a great location.

The weather, alas, was not quite as kind as it could have been.

Icknield Way at 60.

We did one dance in rain and wind. But things cleared up a bit.

A view over the Vale.

Some of the the other sides.

Garston Gallopers.

Owlswick. Some of them.

Look carefully at the next picture.

A view to the east.

You can just make out the hyperbolic cooling towers from Didcot A Power Station. They were demolished the following morning. The view over southern Oxfordshire will never be quite the same.

A weekend festival and workshop

An new event for us this year. The good folk who organise Willowbrook Farm Festival got in touch, and booked us to not only perform but to give a dance workshop too.

None of us had ever been to this festival before. It’s a small family-oriented affair on a rather unusual farm just a little way outside Kidlington. We had to wait for the birds of prey demonstration to finish and people to get some lunch, but we had a fair selection of curious spectators for our first dance set.

Stick out at the Willowbrook Farm Festival

So we took full advantage and made them work too!

Shepherds Hey

Shepherds Hey – for all sizes and ages.

After a quick lunch ourselves, it was time for our workshop. After thinking we might get 1 or 2 people, we found outselves with at least 12, which required all Havocs to the pump. So, unfortunately, there was nobody spare to take pictures. We may get hold of some at some point, in which case I’ll add them here.

After the workshop, a second dance spot. This time we were a little overshadowed by a bloke with some snakes. So once we’d finished, time to see what the fuss was about.

Pete and a snake. Emma doesn’t look overly impressed.

It was a nice event. We’ll be hoping to be back there again.