BEFORE THE MIDDLEWICH DIARY: MOANING ABOUT THE MOANERS

Here's one from May  2011. Just a little bit of early Folk & Boat Festival memorabilia (adapted from an ERF Training manual). The real interest lies in the Facebook comments, featuring members of the original festival's organising committee  turning the tables on all those woefully misinformed  Middlewich Moaners. The subsequent feedback, from 2018, shows that all those  dismal mutterings from the more stupid element of Middlewich society obviously still rankled...

From Facebook, May 14th 2011

Now that festival fever is upon us once more, I thought I'd preserve this little piece of festival history. In the early years of MFAB we used to pin this on the doors of the various pub and club rooms we used for meetings. After a few years, the picture came closer and closer to the reality.

Facebook Feedback:

Ian Murfitt I remember many meetings like this one, the exception being the end of year financial meeting when we all stared at the floor, buttocks clenched, awaiting the pronouncement of the treasurer, whilst the rest of Middlewich muttered about what we did with the vast profits.


Stephen Dent What did we do with the vast profits? Oh, I remember now everyone in Middlewich made money except us!


Ian Murfitt Someone had a go at me last week about it. Working on that festival cost me a fortune, but Middlewich knows I was pocketing the vast profit, generated when they spent all weekend in a pub.


Dave Roberts Yes, we were all out of pocket running that festival. I recall the auditors telling us off because we didn't even claim all the expenses due to us. I'm afraid the new organising committee will have to put up with all the insinuations now. Personally, I've always felt that anyone making such accusations without even an iota of proof can go and...er...well, you know...


Stephen Dent Yes I feel sorry for the new organisers.

Editor's note: The references to the 'new organisers' comes about because 2011 was the year that the Town Council took over the running of the festival after it had run into financial difficulties. The 'new' name, 'Middlewich FAB Festival' dates from this time.

Facebook Feedback (May 2018)

When this little bit of Festival memorabilia was revived in May 2018, it attracted the following feedback:

Lizzie Rosenfield-Boyle Oh Dave I could tell some stories about meetings I’ve attended. And the hours I put in - and the sheer pleasure I experienced being a part of the team running said hugely successful festival.  And did I stand accused?! Of course I did ... yeah right. See you in the Bahamas!

Martin Rivers The old saying "no good deed goes unpunished".

Paul Williams In the early years we depended damn near entirely on John McAteer coming up with grants to kickstart the whole thing. It was certainly not going to pay for itself. Let alone let organisers put anything in their own pockets. It was always on a knife’s edge. People simply won’t believe you’ll give your time for nothing and there are enough dodgy accounting stories where that has been the case that they feel justified in their opinion. Not true of course. Community spirit abounds everywhere. Not least at the Middlewich FAB.

Dave Roberts Johnny Mac was, and remains, my all time hero. Most people will never know how much he did for this town with, as you say, pioneering work on the Folk festival and vast contributions of time and energy to help make the local football club what it is today. I always had the perfect, time-honoured phrase to use on those who'd sit and mutter into their pints, criticising the way the festival was run without, of course, ever volunteering to help in even the smallest way. It's 'Non-bowlers off the green'. Even the thickest knuckle-dragging member of the Keep Middlewich Miserable Campaign could understand what I meant, and it annoyed them no end. Which is always good, of course.

UNEVEN SURFACES

Photo: Salt Town Productions 2012

by Dave Roberts
This, I can assure you, is a completely true story which happened in the heady days of  the summer of 2012 during the Middlewich FAB Festival.
The scene is the White Horse public house in Lewin Street which, like many of the town's pubs, was playing host to some of the festival's fringe acts.
Mindful of the need to ensure the safety of its customers the pub's management had helpfully put this warning on a boarded-up window so that no one would trip over while trying to negotiate the entrance to the pub  and its beer garden.
Whether this had been done specially for the festival I don't know, but the last time I visited the pub the sign was still there.
Late on the Saturday afternoon I walked into the bar and was intrigued to hear the bar staff laughing uproariously and, from time to time, mentioning the words 'uneven surfaces'.
When I asked them what was going on I was told that, earlier in the afternoon, a folk festival visitor, complete with anorak, pewter tankard, Festival Guide and perplexed frown, had called in and asked them what time The Uneven Surfaces were playing.
He could not, he said, find any mention of this particular band in the Guide.
It is unclear whether or not  the Please Take Care was a later addition to the sign, possibly designed to make its purpose clearer.
Perhaps it was already there when this hapless festival-goer wandered in from the street?
If so, I wonder if he thought that Please Take Care was The Uneven Surfaces' support band or that The Uneven Surfaces were such a wild and dangerous bunch that care should be exercised when watching them?
But honestly, you try to help people...

P.S. Stuart Warren Twigg says:

Great story.

 Sometimes the truth is indeed stranger than fiction. OK so the band is called Daryl and the album is Uneven Surfaces, but you couldn't write this stuff!

The White Horse in 2012                                                                                                       Photo: Bill Armsden

Note: After years of struggling to survive, the White Horse finally closed its doors for good on the 10th March 2018. The only reason for the pub's decline was its position on Lewin Street where heavy traffic roared perilously close to the front door. Had the pub been in a better position there's no doubt that it would still be open and thriving.

SEE: THE END OF AN ERA - R.I.P THE WHITE HORSE

First published 23rd January 2013
Re-published 23rd January 2018
and March 11th 2018.

FAB FESTIVAL 2016: EVENTS AT THE NARROWBOAT.

THE NARROWBOAT INN WRITES:

We are proud to be part of the Official Fringe again at this year's FAB Festival and long may it continue!

As a town(and as a pub!) we are extremely lucky to have such a well supported festival.

Over the years we have had some incredible acts perform in The Narrowboat as part of the Festival and this year promises to be no different!!

I know we say every year that this is our strongest line-up ever(and we will probably say it again next year!!) but this year's line-up is pretty darn special and could well be our best yet!! 

Here is a list of artists performing at The Narrowboat at this year's festival on the  16th, 17th,18th & 19th June - all times to be confirmed.

Thursday 16th June

Here at The 'Boat we get things going a bit earlier and start on the Thursday evening with The Fabulous 'Pastry Shoes' performing their wonderful Jazz, Swing & Pop classics. This night has developed in to a very popular pre-festival knees-up so don't be late!

Friday 17th June

Festival Favourites 'Acoustak' will be joining venue favourites 'Undercover' for a Fantastic Friday night!

Saturday 18th June

Pete & Jen will be kicking things off at about 1:30 which will be followed up thick n fast all day by:

Hayley Strangelove(legend!!) Chris Taverner(on his way to being a legend!!) Hayley & Paul a.k.a Baxter(legends!!). 

Finishing off the Saturday are the mighty 'Sons Of Clogger' who will be appearing at The 'Boat for the very first time and promise to be a must see act!

Sunday 19th June

Local legends 'Calico Jack' will be appearing from about 2-ish. Andrew Blackshaw & Friends  will follow from about 6-ish leaving the night clear for our legendary Party Night with one of Cheshire's finest party bands 'The Assets'!! We recommend at least Monday off btw!!

There may be one or two additions but we hope you agree that it is a fantastic FAB Festival line-up with something for every one, come and join us for a great weekend!!

P.S. Stan's Magic Foot can't be tempted out of retirement. Trust us - We,try every year!!

(text used with permission)

FAB FESTIVAL 2015 MASTHEAD MONTAGE

In 2015, when Middlewich FAB Festival celebrated its 25th Anniversary (the 2001 Festival was cancelled because of a foot & mouth disease outbreak) the Middlewich Diary created a series of special Mastheads using the Festival's anniversary logo (with the name 'Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival' temporarily revived for the occasion) and photographs by Cliff  Astles showing various aspects of the festival and just a few of the people involved in this amazing event.

This colourful montage shows the mastheads, which were changed daily in the run-up to the start of the Festival on June 19th.

NOT THE MIDDLEWICH FOLK & BOAT FESTIVAL! FAB FESTIVAL 2016

Bare Bones Marketing/Middlewich Town Council/Signal Radio

COME TO YOUR SENSES!
Or...NOT THE MIDDLEWICH FOLK & BOAT FESTIVAL!

by Dave Roberts

Earlier this year Middlewich Town Council appointed BARE BONES MARKETING as the official marketing organisation for the town's FAB Festival, moving the event even further away from its Folk & Boat Festival origins and making clear its intention to once again use the Festival as a means of attracting people to the town.

The council took over the ailing festival in 2012, immediately changing the name from Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival to Middlewich FAB Festival and emphasising the Festival's community roots. 

The FAB Festival was to be regarded as a local event for the people of Middlewich, although visitors were, as always welcomed.

Now the emphasis is once more on promoting the Festival, and the town, far and wide, with new sponsors including Manchester Metropolitan University and Signal Radio stepping in as media partners.

One thing has not changed in all the years since the 'Folk & Boat' started twenty-six years ago; no matter who runs the festival, and no matter what its 'official' name may be, there's always someone ready and willing to express an opinion on the way it's run and promoted.

And sure enough, as soon as the 'Come To Your Senses' campaign started, using a stock image of a girl wearing reflective sunglasses - a favourite trick used by travel agents and holiday companies for many years - one local would-be expert couldn't resist telling us that to use such an image was inappropriate for 'a folk and boat festival'.

But Middlewich's annual summer festival hasn't been the 'folk and boat festival' for four years now; in 2012, when the Town Council took over the running of the event, its first move was to drop the original name in favour of the shorter 'FAB Festival' title. 

The letters 'FAB' no longer stand for the words 'Folk And Boat'.

This signified a break with the past and enabled the event's new organisers to broaden the appeal of the festival, introducing new types of music and activities which the original title would have precluded.

Of course, to some people, the event will always be 'the Folk & Boat'.

But, in its 26th year, Middlewich's original music festival has moved on.

Press advertising as featured in the Winsford & Middlewich Guardian

ROSE FETE MEMORIES EXHIBITION

by Dave Roberts

Middlewich has taken its annual Rose Fete to its heart in recent years. The event, held on the Saturday of the FAB Festival weekend every June, was rescued by an enthusiastic and highly professional committee of local people a few years ago when it looked likely that it would fold. The Rose Fete is a strong and growing part of the 'local' element of the FAB Festival and.now that the festival is moving away from its 'strictly folk' policy and embracing music and events of all kinds to become more of a community event, the Rose Fete has come into its own.

The event is a chance for children of all ages to take part in a unique local occasion paying homage to the past and making memories for the future.

The Middlewich Rose Fete has its roots in Cheshire's tradition of rose queens, dairy queens, salt queens, carnivals, village fetes, Whit Sunday processions and many more town and village celebrations including, of course, the more recent festivals of which the Folk & Boat Festival was one of the first a quarter of a century ago.

The Rose Fete is anxious to preserve its own history as well as the history of some of those other traditional local events, and we're delighted to be able to pass on this message from the organisers:

Michelle Game writes:

Hi Everyone,

It's not long now until  the Rose Fete and I am hoping that you can all help.

I am trying to create a display in the Rose Fete Marquee this year (and for future years) of past Rose Fetes, and I need pictures, newspaper clippings, and a few other bits.

I know we have already started a fantastic collection on the Rose Fete's Facebook page (link below), which I will also use, but I would like more.

So here's what I need:

Copies of pictures of:  past parades, crowning ceremonies, queens and retinues with information on the year, and the people in the picture.

Copies of newspaper cuttings of:  past parades, crowning ceremonies, queens and retinues with the year, and details of who is in the picture.

If anyone has scrap books, tiaras/crowns, trophies, cloaks etc.that they will be willing to loan us for the weekend, I'd be grateful if you could write on a piece of paper who it belongs to, their role and the year.

We also want pictures etc from the Carnivals and other  Middlewich events before the Rose Fete became established as an event in its own right.

You can either post the pictures on the 

ROSE FETE FACEBOOK GROUP 

with their details or email me at: middlewichrosefetechairman@outlook.com.

If you have scrap books etc that will need collecting again either email me or txt/call: 07800 50 35 79 and we'll sort out collection.

Thank you everyone for your help and I look forward to seeing your fantastic pictures and items!

MIDDLEWICH ROSE FETE 2015

MIDDLEWICH FAB FESTIVAL GUIDE AVAILABLE SOON

AVAILABLE FROM 9th JUNE FROM MIDDLEWICH TOWN COUNCIL AND PARTICIPATING FRINGE VENUES, THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE MIDDLEWICH FAB FESTIVAL 2014!

THE FIRST FAB FESTIVAL DAY OF MUSIC and DANCE - 31st MAY (ARCHIVED)

ARCHIVED

DIRECT WEBSITE LINK
LINK TO MIDDLEWICH MAKERS MARKET DIARY ENTRY

Music by- Acoustak-Kathryn Wheel-Pastry Shoes-Salty Dog Blues-Steamhead
PLUS special guests Simply Soweto Encha!
Dance by- Collins School of Dance-Dancercise-Masquerade
Busking around the market-song & dance on the Bull Ring

EVENING ENTERTAINMENT

Participating venues-
White Bear- from 5pm with Simply Soweto Encha & Bear Minimum
Boars Head- from 6pm with STEAMHEAD hosting a session
Kings Lock- from 8pm with singers and musicians
Narrowboat- from 8pm with Simply Soweto Encha

First published 7th April 2014

Re-published 31st May 2014

Middlewich FABrication

Here's another wonderful legacy from the 2013 FAB Festival.
Middlewich FABrication is a short but totally mesmerising animation created by Melody Smith Animation and children and grown-ups at this year's festival.
Here's a chance to see some of those familiar Middlewich people and landmarks as you've never seen them before.
The video, together with  a lot of information on the project and the techniques of animation can be found here:
MELODY SMITH ANIMATION
or
WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE

Oh, and the music's good too...