Wessex Folk Festival 2024

[puddleshark]

I put the zoom lens on the camera when I went to the folk festival yesterday, and tried to snatch some portrait shots between dances.




Er. Missed.


Anonymous Morris.

The Squire of Anonymous Morris, introducing the side in a booming voice: "We are Anonymous Morris!"
The Squire of another side: "Oh, no, you're not! You just told us who you are!"
The Squire of Anonymous Morris: "Er. Hang on. We didn't think of that..."


Grimspound Border Morris.











The bear of Grimspound Border Morris, who sometimes dances, and sometimes plays the drum, and sometimes queues up for an ice cream. (And I truly don't know how the person wearing that suit survived. It was hot.)


West Somerset Morris.


The Cotswold sides (armed with hankies) were heavily outnumbered by the Border sides (armed with big sticks. And a bear.), but luckily there were no scuffles.




Wild Moon Morris, from Glastonbury. A new side. With non-acoustic instruments! Wild stuff. Really impressed with their dances, though. I hope they are coming to Swanage this year.








I usually shoot action shots at 1/500 or 1/640, but have a few blurry Art Shots (taken when I accidentally pressed a button and changed the shutter speed to 1/160...)






Rag Morris.




***

It turned out not to be a high pressure festival. There were far more dancers than spectators, and all the other sides we danced with were lovely, and applauded us rapturously (though perhaps more in relief that we had stopped than in admiration). I do feel sorry for the organisers of the festival though. There were so few visitors this year. Maybe it's the cost of parking in Weymouth - £15 a day - that is deterring people.

As for our dancing... It didn't go too badly (apart from when I accidentally slapped one of the other dancers in the face, which my sister thought was the highlight of the day). Now and then I almost found myself enjoying myself. I just need to be a bit more brazen, I think.

We danced the Dance That Always Goes Wrong twice, and both times when we successfully got through the Double Hey without losing anyone, we broke into spontaneous cheers.

Comments

[zenigotchas]

I am a big fan of that bear lol

[puddleshark]

I loved that bear. The sight of him joining the queue for the ice cream van was hysterical.

[heleninwales]

It sounds as though you're gaining confidence. I hope the periods when you're enjoying yourself increase in length the more dancing you do.

[puddleshark]

Thanks!

I wonder if I will ever get used to folk festivals. But our evening pub dance outs attract hardly any audience, and are a lot of fun.

[mallorys_camera]

Wonderful!

[puddleshark]

It was a marvellous day out. But I'm still exhausted now. Being colourful and unrestrained does not come naturally to me!

[kaishin108]

How fun! And you sure got some great photos. All the dancers are smiling and look like they are having a blast. That bear is great - every festival needs a bear. :)

[puddleshark]

...every festival needs a bear. :)

Yes! I love it when a Morris side is accompanied by a startling Beast...

It really was a fun day. We were by the harbour, and the sun was shining, and the music was fabulous.

[kaishin108]

So happy you had a sunny day!

I finally got really curious and watched a YouTube of a Morris dancing festival in 2023 and saw a lot of different groups. How fun!! :)

[asakiyume]

So glad this was an event you got to dance at! And I love your top photo; it’s a beautiful moment. (The others are beautiful too, but I loved that one in particular)

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

When I danced here last year, it was my first ever dance out in public, and I was far too terrified to enjoy it. But this year it was slightly less terrifying, and now and then it was even fun.