GIRVAN FOLK FESTIVAL

Celebrating 50 Years of Traditional Music

Gill Sherry

“There’s been traditional music in Carrick for well over 50 years. The very first festivals would have been informal, word of mouth gatherings. There’s a story that a young welder from Partick came, had a great time, missed the last train home, and slept on the beach. That was Billy Connolly.”

This would have been in the early 1960s, Neil McDermott informs me. But those early festivals in the South Ayrshire town of Girvan don’t count towards the 50-year tally.

“We’ve got amazing oral histories on our website from people who remember those early festivals, like the story of The Corries setting up and playing all afternoon on Stumpy Corner. But in 1975, the festival became more formal under the stewardship of a committee including Bobby Robb, the local singer who was a quietly ubiquitous presence at the festival for decades.”

The ambitious local committee produced a handsome programme stating it was the FIRST Girvan Traditional Folk Festival. Hence why the half-century celebrations are taking place this year.

“I’ve been going since I was a teenager,” says Neil. “Now I’m the Festival Director!”

It’s a position he’s held for five years and it’s fair to say, he’s very enthusiastic about this year’s programme.

“We’ve got Dougie MacLean coming, Scotland’s foremost folk troubadour, who himself is celebrating 50 years as a professional artist. After Dougie plays on the Sunday, there’ll be a bagpipe parade down to the shore where there’ll be a spectacular fire show inspired by local folklore.

“The night before, we have a younger generation of traditional musicians. A really incredible young piper from Skye called Brìghde Chaimbeul is being joined by Ross Ainslie. They’re playing the bellows blown smallpipes, plus a really fantastic accompanist, Steven Byrnes. They hardly ever play together as a trio so we’re delighted we’ve got them.

“On the Friday night, we have a trio called Brechin, McKerron & Ó hEadhra. Charlie McKerron is the fiddler in Capercaillie, Sandy Brechin is a laugh-out-loud, hilarious accordion player and general wit, and Brian Ó hEadhra is a fluent speaker of Scottish Gaelic. He sings songs from the Gaelic, Scots and Irish traditions. They should be a really great start to the festival.”

It already sounds like an ambitious artistic programme, but there’s so much more to look forward to.

“We’ve got the Lady of Avenel Tallship arriving into Girvan Harbour, crewed by this amazing crowd of people called Sessions and Sail. We’re going to use the boat as an atmospheric setting for sing-a-rounds and traditional fiddle tunes… and for storytelling and other events for young families.”

No doubt the old stories from the Carrick Hills will captivate the children, as will the ship itself! Which, I understand, is also opening its cabins for overnight stays for the Friday and Saturday night. What a treat that would be!

“The festival is still small,” Neil continues, “but I wouldn’t describe it as smaller or less ambitious than other festivals. I think it was ambitious from the get-go in 1975. Our events are intimate events, and the festival is run by an Ayrshire traditional music community. We remain small but it’s a fantastic weekend and is successful at its scale.”

In addition to music and storytelling, there will be dance, local arts, crafts, exhibitions and competitions.

“Our competitions have run for many years,” Neil tells me. “There are songs now in the folk tradition sung all over the world that were given their first airing at the Girvan competitions. We’re inviting back a Glasgow-based song maker called Steven Clark. He wrote this incredible song, ‘Coming Home’ (sometimes you’ll hear it called ‘All Jock Tamson’s Bairns’), that won first prize at the song competition in 2004.”

Stephen is returning to the festival this year as a competition judge, and Neil urges local songwriters to enter. After all, you never know where it might lead.

“We’d love anybody who wants to enter a song into those competitions to come along.”

In the meantime, plans are well underway to make this 50th festival one to remember. Those plans include the revival of long-forgotten traditional music from Ayrshire.

“We’ve dug up loads of incredible fiddle and pipe tunes from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, great tunes that are inspired by or associated with Ayrshire in some way. We’ve been delving in the archives and have found lots of Ayrshire fiddle tunes from the 18th and 19th centuries that have never previously been published. The problem is to work out which ones to include and which ones not to include!”

Once that difficult decision has been made, Ayr fiddle player, Alistair McCulloch, and other community musicians will play the old tunes back to life.

The revival of these old tunes plays an important role in heritage sustainability. Billed as Scotland’s Sustainable Celebration of Traditional Music, the Girvan festival is keen to be as sustainable as possible.

“There are lots of different strands to it,” Neil confirms. “All of our printed material is printed on sustainable paper stock. All of our merchandise is created with a sustainable lens. And we’re super-interested in social sustainability and the sustainability of heritage… like the revival of the old traditional repertoire.”

Not forgetting the Folky Bus!

“We have a rural transport initiative which is entirely delivered by electric vehicles. The Folky Bus is totally free and serves all of the KA26 villages. We whisk you into Girvan to have a bit of fun and a drink, and then we’ll pick you up and get you home again.”

Other plans for the festival involve a special 50th anniversary book which will include the historical Ayrshire music that Neil has mentioned, plus a section on contemporary music. The festival is therefore inviting traditional musicians from across Ayrshire who have written music that’s inspired by or associated with Ayrshire to send their tunes for inclusion and, hopefully, to play during the launch of the book on the Sunday afternoon.

“People don’t have to worry about playing on their own,” says Neil, keen to reassure. “There’s an incredible house band, featuring Alistair McCulloch and Rosie Lindsay… so we’d love anybody who has written jigs or reels or hornpipes or waltzes that are in some way associated with Ayrshire, to come along.”

If you’re not already scrambling to get your tickets for this special anniversary festival, I’m sure Neil’s summary will convince you: “It’s a traditional music festival where you’ll find blistering instrumental music, and captivating, heartbreaking, and side-splittingly funny traditional song. We’re dedicated to showcasing the unique traditional heritage of Ayrshire… especially reviving forgotten and over-looked songs and tunes.”

For tickets visit www.girvanfolkfestival.org.uk. Because whether it’s your first or fiftieth time, you’ll find the finest in folk and traditional music in beautiful Southwest Scotland this spring!
“It’s a fantastic night out or a weekend away if you want to get really stuck into it. Everybody is so welcome.”