7 ATF

‘After the Fair’ is a free festival for fun loving people who like to get amongst it. If you want to sing, play music, tell tales or dance, you will have a good time at Bampton where you can do any or all of these things in the numerous sessions from Friday evening to Sunday night. Listeners are also very welcome.

Some of the sessions are ‘led’ by guest hosts. This is to ensure that there is always something going on and also that the more reticent participators get a look in! There is also plenty of room for those who prefer to do their own thing. See the programme for details.

A dozen or so each of Irish and Breton singers, musicians and dancers join us for the weekend and you can find yourself alongside them in any of the sessions.

Dance displays take place in the town throughout Saturday. The street outside The Swan Hotel is a favourite venue. The Breton Dance workshop is run by our Elliant guests.

There is a Variety Concert on Saturday afternoon at 3.00pm. All our concert guests are appear for no fee in order to support the festival. Every year is a sell out – a great favourite with local people and festival visitors. A modest sum is charged for admission to the Concert..

If you are not a concert goer, pub sessions continue throughout the day and evening, and there is an additional venue in The Blackberries.

Sunday continues with pub sessions until the last survivors have had enough.

Bampton ( web site: www.bampton.org.uk) is a picturesque small town (known locally as ‘the village’) on the edge of Exmoor. There are plenty of places to eat, from breakfast through to evening meals and there is also a good fish and chip restaurant - eat in or take away. All our visitors comment favourably on the friendly welcome they receive from residents and we work closely with local groups and organisations to ensure that this continues.

There is good walking on nearby footpaths and further afield on Exmoor.

The festival is organised and run by Pennymoor Singaround. We all put in our work for no fee and we aim to cover the festival costs with proceeds from the concert, from local fundraising and sponsorship including contributions in kind, and from our collecting tins. Please contribute to these generously so that this weekend of musical creativity for the sheer joy of it,can continue.