Music for people this weekend as Canterbury Folk Festival returns
For the past 48 years or so, the Canterbury Folk Festival has brought the best roots and acoustic music to the folk of Canterbury.
Folk music – the music of the folk – could mean a range of things to you, depending on whom you consider your “folk” to be. While the festival has a tradition of dabbing from a global palette of folk music, this year the picture has a distinctly local hue.
“Some years you might look and go ‘Oh, there’s a Danish group. There’s an Indian group,” says festival committee president Sophia Bidwell. “And some years we've had quite significant international artists, but we haven’t gone down that road this year as we were quite full by June with New Zealand artists.”
One of those big Kiwi draws is west-coast Cantabrian trio Fiddlesticks. They will be organising a folk orchestra, inviting participants to bring an acoustic instrument to group lessons with the aim of performing en masse to the festival crowd.
Bidwell is very keen on the participatory nature of the festival, and as an accordion player herself is excited by the folk orchestra project.
“They’re just such wonderful teachers,” she says of Fiddlesticks. “I love seeing bands play. But it’s doing stuff that really appeals to me, and what I look forward to.”
Another aspect of the festival that Bidwell is keen to emphasise is its family orientation, with kids’ activities a high priority.
Singing coach Nikki Berry, renowned for leading singing workshops for people who think they can’t sing, will be running the children’s music programme.
Located in the leafy surroundings of the Waipara Adventure Centre, the event takes place from Good Friday to Easter Monday. More information is available from the Canterbury Folk Festival website.