Fairport's Cropredy Convention

Fairport's Cropredy Convention

Location(s)	Cropredy, England
Years active	1976 - present
Founded by	Fairport Convention
Date(s)	Second weekend in August
Genre	Electric folk
Website	Official website

Fairport's Cropredy Convention (formerly Cropredy Festival) is an annual festival of folk and rock music held on the edge of the village of Cropredy in Oxfordshire, England. It has taken place in August since 1976.

Fairport's Cropredy Convention attracts up to 20,000 people each year, making it the largest annual festival of its kind in Britain. The festival features a single stage at the lower end of the sloping arena field. There are also ancillary events, such as morris dancing in the streets and live music at the village's two pubs.

History

The festival began as small private performances to locals by the electric folk band Fairport Convention to about 750 people in a village back garden in July 1976. The next year the performance was repeated and fans allowed to attend. In 1978 it was properly organized and moved to a larger site behind the Cropredy village school. It became a significant event in the band’s history as they played their farewell performance there on 4 August 1979 to around 4,500 fans, who were cheered by a promise to continue with annual reunions. From this point the Festival became the main mechanism for preserving the identity of the band and for their many fans to show their appreciation.^[1]

The stage at Fairport's Cropredy Convention festival, Oxfordshire, in August 2009 (click for larger image)

At the first reunion in 1980 the festival was expanded from a one to a two-day event with increasing numbers of guest acts. In 1981, lacking a suitable site at Cropredy, it was shifted to the grounds of Broughton Castle, a performance released as Moat On The Ledge - Live At Broughton Castle (1982).

The festival returned to Cropredy the next year (and has remained there ever since although the actual site has expanded over the years). Despite the fact that Fairport Convention was not active as a band from 1980 to 1985, the festival continued to grow. After the band reformed in 1985, the festival became Fairport's major platform for showcasing new material as well as revisiting the old.^[1]

During the 1990s, the festival was a two-day event. From 2000, it was expanded to three days—Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The festival takes place on the second full weekend in August. Originally known as just 'the Cropredy reunion', the event was branded Cropredy Festival until 2005 when it was retitled Fairport's Cropredy Convention. In 2007, all available tickets were sold in advance for the first time.

In 2008, a live on-stage video screen was introduced. The year was also notable because, for the first time, not a single theft from the campsites was reported to festival control over the whole three days, underlining the unique and friendly atmosphere for which the festival is famous.

Outline of the festival

Members of Fairport still organise the festival and the band gives the closing concert, a marathon performance which lasts over three hours. The festival ends with Fairport singing the song "Meet on the Ledge".

The majority of attendees camp for the duration of the festival. There are seven separate camping fields adjacent to the arena, one of which is reserved for family parties. Fairport's Cropredy Convention is aimed at all ages with an emphasis on families and has developed a reputation as a particularly friendly and safe festival.^{[citation needed]}

As well as a wide range of live music, the event features three dozen stalls selling clothing, books, CDs and food. It also boasts a very large bar which specialises in cask ale which is provided by Wadworth, a brewery based in Devizes, Wiltshire. The bar is used by festival-goers and performers alike (there is no back-stage bar), making Cropredy one of the few major festivals where the public can mingle with the musicians playing there.^{[citation needed]}

In recent years, the running times for live music have been 4 pm until 11 pm on the Thursday and noon until midnight on the Friday and Saturday.

In recent years there has been a wider spread of genres of music at the festival, expanding out from the original folk roots of the festival. The Classic Rockers Status Quo, punks The Buzzcocks, reggae-dub band Dreadzone and Brit pop band Supergrass have all played at the festival in recent years, proving the festival has grown in stature and size and has gained much respect for being the "friendliest festival in the country".^{[citation needed]}

Among many well-known acts appearing in recent years are Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin fame), Status Quo, Lonnie Donegan, Procol Harum, Steeleye Span, Eliza Carthy, Yusuf Islam and Oysterband (see below for others).

The pre-Cropredy 'warm-ups'

On the Monday and Tuesday before the festival each year, fans get a foretaste of what's to come at the festival when Fairport Convention stage 'warm-up' concerts at a local club venue. Until 2007 these concerts were held at The Mill Arts Centre in Banbury. Since then they have been held at Woodford Halse Social Club (Woodford Halse is a village in Northamptonshire approximately nine miles northeast of Cropredy). The returned to The Mill for 2011.

The warm-ups are concerts in their own right and also provide Fairport Convention with the chance to rehearse their set for the following Saturday.

Appearances

These performers are generally listed with the headline act last.

2011

Thursday 11 August 2011

• Fairport Acoustic Convention
• Katriona Gilmore & Jamie Roberts
• Blair Dunlop
• Home Service
• Hayseed Dixie
• UB40

Friday 12 August 2011

• BBC YFA Winners - Moore, Moss, Rutter
• The Travelling Band
• Steve Tilston & The Durbervilles
• Charlie Dore
• The Dylan Project
• The Urban Folk Quartet
• The Coral
• Seasick Steve

Saturday 13 August 2011

• Richard Digance
• The Shee
• The Blockheads
• Lau
• Horslips as "Very Special Guests"
• Badly Drawn Boy
• Fairport Convention & Friends

2010

Thursday August 12

• Keith Donnelly & Flossie Malavialle
• Leatherat
• Thea Gilmore
• Pauline Black of The Selecter
• Status Quo

Friday August 13

• The Tindalls
• Martin Taylor’s Spirit of Django
• Mabon
• 3 Daft Monkeys
• Little Johnny England
• The Dixie Bee-Liners
• Little Feat
• Bellowhead

Saturday August 14

• Richard Digance
• Breabach
• ahab
• Easy Star All Stars
• Rick Wakeman & The English Rock Ensemble
• Martyn Joseph
• Fairport Convention and Friends (including excerpts from the Rock Opera Excalibur)

2009

Thursday August 13

• Harlequinn
• 4 Square
• Nicol & Cool
• Buzzcocks
• Steve Winwood

Friday August 14

• ColvinQuarmby
• Megan & Joe Henwood
• Scott Matthews
• Ade Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds
• John Jorgensen Band
• The Dodge Brothers
• Richard Thompson
• Seth Lakeman

Saturday August 15

• Richard Digance
• Churchfitters
• Feast of Fiddles
• Dreadzone
• Nik Kershaw
• Ralph McTell
• Fairport Convention and friends (including special guest Yusuf)

2008

Thursday August 7

• Whapweasel
• Anthony John Clarke
• The Gathering
• John Tams and Barry Coope
• Supergrass

Friday August 8

• The Family Mahone
• Peggy & PJ Wright
• 3 Daft Monkeys
• Siobhan Miller & Jeana Leslie (BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award winners)
• Stackridge
• Paul Brady and his band
• Joe Brown and his band featuring special guest Dave Edmunds
• Levellers

Saturday August 9

• Richard Digance
• Lark Rise to Candleford featuring Ashley Hutchings
• Legend (Bob Marley tribute)
• The Muffinmen
• The Julie Fowlis Band
• Midge Ure
• Fairport Convention and friends (including special guest Robert Plant)

1976 to 2007

Appearances prior to 2008 have been moved to Fairport's Cropredy Convention Appearances

References

1. ^ ^{a b} F. Redwood and M. Woodward, The Woodworm Era, the Story of Today’s Fairport Convention (Jeneva, Thatcham Berks, 1995), p. 76. ISBN 0-9525860-0-2

External links

• Fairport Convention's website
• Guide to Cropredy Festival
• Cropredy Festival at eFestivals