by Sally-Anne Brown, Photo courtesy of Nettlespie Photography at Lancaster Music Festival
Last weekend (12th-15th October) it was Lancaster Music Festival – where for 3 days music completely takes over the city centre of Lancaster. It is EVERYWHERE – on the streets, shops, cafes, bars, the canal, in one case on a roof! It is not about ‘big’ bands it is local musicians, musicians from around the world, workshops, pop-up busk stops – outreach music in schools and the local hospital and so much more. Almost all of it is free.
As I walked round the city centre I was struck by the huge variety of music I was encountering – from an Irish set in the Craic Inn where the singer snapped one of his strings mid song and an audience member handed him their own guitar, to a participatory kazoo orchestra, a Chinese drumming session and then Galician dancing in the market square.
I spoke to one of the – incredibly busy – organisers Lucy Reynolds and asked her what she feels is special about music:
‘I think people connect with each other through music. It takes people out of themselves and into a larger shared space that I think we all have memory of from when we used to play music and sing together much more freely. Lancaster Music Festival gives people a space to do this as it’s a bit informal so everyone feels welcome. There’s little divide between musicians and audience – This is a conscious move by LMF and fits with the festival’s joyous, shared space, collective ethos. Being 97% free helps as well!’
I went on to ask what drove Lucy in her role as organiser: ‘I like the organisation as it’s experimental and progressive. The board runs on passion for new ideas rather than profit . LMF has always been about the city itself and the music within and we have rejected the idea of headliners or expensive ticketed gigs. This makes it trickier to organise but is so much more fun to be involved with. We couldn’t do it without the kindness and support of so many partners and supporters. It’s all about the feel good factor – Almost a musical harvest festival!’
An absolute highlight for me was More Music’s young people’s stage in the Market Square on Friday evening, where young people were given not only the opportunity to perform but were also stage crew and involved in the stage tech. Again, on Sunday More Music’s ‘Girls Can’ stage gave young women and non-binary performers the chance to perform as well as participate in an inspirational discussion event with punk band Loose Articles.
The over-riding feeling from the whole weekend though was joy. Bags of it. The city was thronging, couples, young people, families with young children, older people and there was something there for all of them. Music is an astonishing art form (I feel so privileged to work with it) – it has an immediacy and can connect people on so many levels. There were many, many take away moments from the festival – but one that stays with me is of a young boy, around 3 years old – rushing up to the front of a stage where Spanish guitar music was being performed, he was bobbing and waving and was quickly joined by his grandma and another lady spotted them and went over to dance too. Their enjoyment spread round those standing nearby and we were all smiling and clapping along, completely connected in a shared experience through music – with no barriers.
I don’t know of any other art form that can reach everyone in quite the same way and it is absolutely vital that music (and music education) is nurtured so that future generations can know that same joy that festival goers did at the weekend.
Spinning Threads 