Keeping folk tradition alive

Sounds great: Fleetwood Folk Club at Strawberry Gardens pub, Poulton Road, Fleetwood. From left - Tony Mason, Mike France and Alan Middleton

This year’s Fylde Folk Festival is set to be the last as organiser Alan Bell was told by doctors to pull the plug for the sake of his health.

There will no longer be a show of that name held in the town, but committee member Raelene Silcox is confident Fleetwood’s hotels and pubs will be alive with the sound of music in 2015.

She said: “At the moment we are trying to form a committee and we will be putting on some kind of festival next year in various pubs and bars around Fleetwood.

Fylde Folk Festival underway at The Mount Hotel, Fleetwood. Co-organisers Stu and Rusty Wright.

“Alan has done a wonderful job over the last 42 years.

Hoping

“It would be terrible not to have something, so it’s important to keep it and that’s what we are hoping to do.

The 42nd Fylde Folk Festival runs from August 29 to 31 and will see performers from across the country perform in the town’s pubs.

But medical experts told Mr Bell, 79, he cannot continue to work the long hours needed to run the festival. However, the committee wants to start something fresh next summer, and give it a maritime feel.

Mrs Silcox, 41, added: “Fleetwood is a community town and the show has always been looked at as the Fylde Folk Festival because it brings in a lot of tourist trade and keeps folk music alive.”