I’m sure I mentioned that I was  going to be at a festival. Cambridge Folk Festival to be precise. Arrived early having rebooked to avoid the train strike. (I fully support all trade union actions and respectfully remind you that excessive profits are unpaid wages.) We waltzed around the town for a day and took in the sights, though to be honest at £11 per adult per college you’re not going to visit them all!

Wristbands collected. Refillable drinks plastic glass procured. A brief wait for the merch tent to open so we could get a programme spent happily at the cider stall. The key to a good festival is the choice of bands to see. With 4 stages a clash is inevitable but rate your must see/like to see/will see if passing carefully and Bob’s your aunty. Mooch round the market looking at the festival clothes/hats/jewelry and, of course, the instrument stall… because this is a folk festival.

Who did we see…? Findlay. Spiers and Boden. Dustbowl Revival (best find of the festival for me). The Young Uns. Suzanne Vega. Seasick Steve (which got a bit ‘blokey’ and dangerous feeling so we left). Admiral Fallow (not their best set something was off). Zoe Bestel. The People Versus. Cruel Folk. The Honest Poet. Dupree. June Road. The Mary Wallopers. Katherine Priddy.

My pick of the festival must see was Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingham. I’d caught a tune or two on the radio the week before. He’s a Grammy Award winning blues guitar player. Yep. Blues at a folk festival, that’s Cambridge. His security detail were not best pleased when he disappeared off stage, still wired in through his radio pickup, and reappeared sometime later in the middle of the audience. Brilliant (and he knows it) check out his albums.

However the ‘remember for ever’ moment will go to the Billy Bragg set. Now Billy and I go way back. I actually gave him his 1st gig in Manchester back in 1983/4. (There is a photo to prove it). Naturally I wanted to catch his set but this clashed with both O’Hooley and Tidow (also acquaintances …  we caught the first few songs of their set) and the 2nd half of the Women’s European football final. He checked his phone just before the set to see that the German team had equalised 1-1. Part way through he spotted someone in the crowd checking the score… into extra time… Billy decided we should all sing Jerusalem to spur them on but just the 1st verse. 2-1 shouts the guy. One song… how long to go? 2 minutes… Billy decided to talk for a while but couldn’t hold off and launched into ‘Shirley‘ … around  verse 3 the cheer went up. He stopped playing and wept. So did just about every woman in the crowd. Strangers hugged each other, a strange sight in this post Covid world. We sang the 2nd verse of Jerusalem!

Much of the weekend was spent enjoying amazing music, cider and company. There was much anti Tory sentiment (as is the way with folk music) including a beautiful arrangement of ‘Vote the Bastards Out’ in 4 part harmony by the Spooky Men’s Chorale. Regardless of your political views (who am I kidding) I’d definitely advise you to check out next year’s festival.

Bring me my bow of burning gold….