Sue Birch from Brading tells us more about plans for a three day music festival, planned for this coming autumn in Brading. Ed
Following the closure of the Brading Experience in early 2010, Brading has become a place where tourists pass through.
As many of you will already know, over the past year, St Mary’s Church have been putting on concerts to help meet the shortfall in income created by the lack of tourists.
These concerts have proved extremely popular and successful. Monies raised goes towards the costs of continuing repairs and restoration projects.
Festival idea born out of concert popularity
Concerts have been performed by variety of talented local musicians, or musicians from further afield, with the likes of Lily Neill, an International Celtic harpist, James Hickman and Dan Cassidy, a transatlantic duo, Dan being the late Eva Cassidy’s brother. Visiting mainland Orchestra’s and bands perform at St Mary’s. Because of these successful monthly concerts, the idea of a musical weekend and workshops was born.
With most the events being free with retiring collections, it could provide families with a good weekend out, when money is tight in these bad economic times.
In doing so, raising money for projects within the Town at same time.
Brading has a lot to offer and we hope to make people aware of Brading’s attributes. Please see Events OnTheWight to see what is happening at St Mary’s Church on a monthly basis.
What will the festival offer?
The weekend is going to be based all around the Town, and staged in various venues from the St Mary’s Church, to the Roman Villa, taking in en route the Town Hall, the Methodist Church, the Station, the School, the Youth Club and the Dark Horse pub.
There will be a variety of musical delights to enjoy, with something for most tastes. The performers will include Lily Neill, the well loved International Celtic harp player, Island musicians Holly Kirby and Emily Scotcher, The IW Scottish Fiddlers, Old Time Music Hall, IOW Youth Orchestra supported by Sandown High School hand bell ringers, Cephalodidge, and Niki B’s Note-orious, with the final concert of the weekend being a classical concert by the Tagore String Trio.
Some of these events will be ticketed, but some will be free, with retiring collections. There will be occasional music on the Islandline train service, and musical activities at the award winning Brading Station where refreshments will be served.
Get stuck in to the workshops
A wide range of workshops will be held to aid the ‘Feel good factor. These will include Yoga, Keep Fit, Watercolour classes, Theatre and Dance, African Drums and didgeridoo, Children’s Morris dancing, Musical theatre, and tap and freestyle dancing, computer drumming.
A further treat will be workshops to ring the bells of St Mary’s Church. A charge will be made for this wonderful opportunity in order to raise funds for the bells restoration programme.
Dance the weekend away
The Wight Variety Company, performing the Old Time Music Hall, will be raising funds for children of the Brading Dance School, who have been given the opportunity to dance at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in the West End of London.
Whilst it has always been free to dance at these venues; costumes, travel expenses etc”¦ still have to be paid for. They decided to give the children the best possible opportunity to dance at these venues, and would subsidize wherever possible any costs that would be incurred by the parents, so their Children’s Performance Fund was born!
Bloodstone Border and Wightbells Morris dancers will be performing at the Dark Horse and around the town.
Suitably refreshed
Refreshments will be available around the Village with food being served on the Saturday from 12- 9.30pm and Sunday 12-9pm at the Dark Horse, with later evening music provided.
There is a possibility of the other two pubs being involved at a later date.
The provisional date for the three day festival is 14th -16th October. Pop it in your diaries and make it a date.
Brading has something different to offer
Brading is spread over a wide area and partly tucked away, when you think of the station and the Roman Villa and the distance between the two! Both are worthy of a visit.
The Station and signal box has gained a Railway Heritage award, and features a Visitors centre.
If one takes a walk in the lovely Brading Marshes, now part of RSPB reserve, a circular route brings you back to the station where you can get a very welcome cup of tea and refreshments. If you are into railway heritage, then a must is a visit to the brilliantly restored signal box….but if you were a tourist travelling by road, would you know it was there?
We are hoping this planned weekend will raise awareness, and who knows, enough money to buy a road sign perhaps?
Image: © St Mary’s Church by Jenga Pix
Cephalodidge by Martin Perry
