Wimborne Folk Festival

IT was nine o'clock on Sunday night when I finally dragged myself from the Cricketers' Field where the Wimborne Folk Festival party showed no signs of letting up.

True, people were a little thinner on the ground, but that's probably because the campers had begun to trek homewards. Campers?! I appreciate the quaint cosiness of Wimborne, but I confess I'd always regarded "The Folkie" as a local-interest kind of thing.

Not so, as mayor Anthony Oliver was pleased to tell me. The festival has grown to expect thousands of people from all over - including a team of Morris dancers from Hong Kong!

I can see why people would travel so far. Even if you find Morris dancing bewildering, you can but harbour a fascination and respect for people brave enough to dance around at that pace wielding sticks that big.

From the White Hart to the Cricketers' Field, it also appears, I can listen to any amount of banjo-banging, belly-rumbling, gravelly-voiced folk-rock without getting bored. Keeping up with the vigorous dancing, however, was not always so easy.

Musical highlights of the weekend included The Agency, Black Friday (hats off for playing with such gusto in that heat in those jackets) and, of course, the mighty Pronghorn - I defy anyone to see this band live and tell me they've been to a better party.