Rothbury traditional music festival

Date: 2004-07-19, Publication: The Journal

Fans of traditional music, song and dance were in their element at the weekend.

The annual three-day Rothbury Traditional Music Festival has been held for almost 30 years to keep alive the county's rich folk traditions for locals and visitors alike.

The weekend saw about 200 musicians of all ages converge on the Coquetdale community from Friday night with a ceilidh in the Jubilee Hall before the main events on Saturday saw a Highland pipe band marching through the village and competitions for pipers, accordionists, fiddlers, flautists and dialect poets.

Saturday night's concert in All Saints Church was sold out. Piper Kathryn Tickell, from Tynedale, as MC, introduced Canadian group Island Girls, Galician piper Anxo Lorenzo from Spain, young local fiddle players the Rothbury Ranters, singer Olivia Rees and Northumbrian piper Pauline Cato.

On the same night, the auction mart hosted a ceilidh. Musicians played impromptu sessions in pubs yesterday and the finale was a Final Fling dance in the Jubilee Hall led by Robin Dunn.

Festival chairman Alistair Anderson, who plays the pipes and concertina, said: "The main impetus for the festival is to allow local people in Rothbury, visitors and musicians from all over the country to get together and have a great time.

"It aims to encourage people to sing, play and dance and the two main events on Saturday night were sold out."

Amble saw a Viking invasion (pictured below) over the weekend as the development trust staged the town's two-day Sea Fayre Festival.

About 200 Viking warriors set up camp at the Little Shore to launch the free event on Saturday and pupils from Amble Middle School performed a historical celebration called St Jeordi and the Dragon.

There was also a rock festival and entertainment for children.

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