[ivfdf-news] IVFDF 2007

[Richard Mason]

Hi all,

just to say thanks to Edinburgh for organising a great IVFDF this year.
With all the venue problems that you had, you coped admirably and put on a
great festival.  The most important thing was that any glitches that did
occur didn't affect the main events at all, and they were certainly
wonderful events.

John Dipper band on friday night certainly surprised me as I hadn't heard
them before - what a great sound, and with Gordon keeping control that was a
fantastic evening.  Similarly with Rhod and Vertical Expression - a
wonderful exciting blend of music and dance.

>From an Exeter point of view, we had quite a few of our group for whom it
was their first experience of any folk festival - and they were totally
blown away by the whole thing.  Their enthusiasm for the weekend was summed
up by 3 things:

1) A 5 hour session on the coach on the way up with Warwick Uni
2) That when the late night dancing venue closed at 3am on sunday morning,
there were still 18 Exeter people there and dancing/playing.
3) Despite the coach breaking down on the way back, and a 3.5 hour wait at
Frankley services to get the coach fixed, everyone was still in good
spirits.  In fact we were having such a good time dancing/playing/singing in
the services (we took over the whole of one floor!), that there was almost
disappointment when they announced that the coach was fixed.  The sight of
Cherkassia Kfula danced through the tables of the main food outlet, with
several slightly bemused onlookers, is a memory that will stay with us for a
while.  Great appreciation to the staff there who allowed us to dance, and
really seemed to enjoy the entertainment.

So thanks once again to Stephen and crew for all your hard work, we had a
great time, and will see you all next year in Sheffield!

Cheers

Richard

PS: If venues turn out to be a problem any year, then we should all just
descend on a motorway service station!