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Dear Sword Dancer, Thank you for supporting the International Sword
Spectacular Festival at Whitby - the world’s biggest festival of Sword
Dancing. This letter
contains the latest information – watch out for updates on this
website. Although various organisations have sponsored the
Festival - in particular the Arts Council’s Awards for All - YOU and
your contributions have really made it happen. This year, we host no less than ten overseas groups,
from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA.
In this festival, the visitors mix with everyone else so please
welcome our guests and make friends with them during their stay.
If you (or any members of your team) can help us with
translation, we’d love to hear from you, particularly if you can speak
Czech, Basque, Italian or American. Our 2004 base is at Eskdale School.
This is some way from the town centre, so we are running a free
shuttle bus on Friday so that those staying in B&B can come and join
us at the school, which will be where things are happening.
On Saturday/Sunday nights and at various other times, the shuttle
will link the school with the Pavilion or town centre. There’s plenty to join in with, whether you’re a team or
individual, with workshops, tours, conference and much more! We also coincide with the visit of Capt Cook’s
‘Endeavour’ replica to what its crew consider home, with the very
special atmosphere that brings. Tickets: Please collect your Sword Spectacular tickets on
arrival from the Festival Office (at Eskdale School on Friday night).
Make sure you have them handy to show at event and camp
entrances. Please order any
additional tickets now from the Festival Secretary – the sooner the
better. Tickets will be
available on the weekend but PLEASE try not to leave it until the last
minute. Camping: The Eskdale School site opens from 5pm on Friday 28 May
until 11am on Monday 31 May. Please
DO NOT ARRIVE BEFORE THE SITE OPENS – the school will still be in use.
Caravans MUST use the hard standing.
NB – Basic, free overnight camping is also available in
Goathland on Monday 31 May (details from Festival Office) but
unfortunately indoor camping is not possible at Goathland. IMPORTANT:
Please keep noise to a minimum
at Eskdale School, particularly at night.
Please DO NOT use barbeques on this site.
Thank you. Directions:
The school/camp site are on Stainsacre Lane (the main
A171 south of Whitby). From
Pickering/Teesside (A169/A171), turn right at the major traffic lights
as you come into Whitby, go across the “New Bridge” and continue
south towards Scarborough until you are about to leave Whitby. Eskdale School is more or less the last building on the
right. A map
has been placed on this website. Security
will be provided when the camp site is unoccupied.
However the Festival cannot accept any liability for loss or
damage and you advised not to leave any valuables on the site. The security staff will be very nice to you if you are nice
to them! They are likely to ask to see your tickets throughout the
weekend. Parking
on site: You
can park by your tent IF THE WEATHER IS GOOD.
If rain damage is possible, you must park on the hard standing at
the edge of the field. Catering:
The excellent Moor & Coast food tent will be on site to provide
breakfasts and snacks each morning. It will also fulfil the munchies
late at night, when it is sure to be its usual social centre, so bring
an instrument! Toilets
and showers: will
be open in the school buildings except during the daytime when we are
away; reduced facilities will be available overnight.
An outside tap is available for filling water containers. We hope to open the school swimming pool at certain
times – if so, details will be posted on the website and at the
Festival Office. Rubbish:
please use the bags provided and put them in the school skips or,
even better, take your refuse home. Please do your best to leave the
site clean and tidy. The
Festival Office will be open at the main foyer of Eskdale
School (round the other side from the camp site) from 5.30pm –
midnight on the Friday and also on the Saturday until 10.30am.
It will then move to The Pavilion complex on the sea front and be
open 3pm – 4pm and 6pm – 11.00pm on Saturday and 4.30pm – 10.30pm
on Sunday. Members of the organising committee will be available at most
other times. Merchandise:
Sword
Spectacular merchandise will be available from the Festival Office,
including printed t-shirts, embroidered polo and sweatshirts, leather
badges and souvenir programmes. Please
support the Festival by buying Iots!
We will be pleased to sell any wares you may bring along in
return for a small commission. First
Aid: Registered
First Aiders will be on site but we would be pleased if others could
support our small team. PLEASE:
if you have a current First Aid certificate, let us know in advance.
We sincerely hope we won’t need to call on your services but
you never know! Accident
and Emergency facilities are available at Whitby Hospital. Stewards:
The Festival team is very small team and we always need
volunteers to help out. It
won’t ruin your weekend - most duties take only an hour or so; please
contact Vin Wynne (mailto: vinwynne@blueyonder.co.uk
) if you can help.
Will ALL TEAMS please provide a Parade Steward on
Sunday morning; these should report for briefing to Stuart Higson at the
Eskdale School main entrance lobby at 10.30am prompt on the Sunday. Collections:
The Festival relies on street collections to stage the event and
we need you to collect as much for the Festival as possible.
If you are going to dance out in the evenings, please collect for
the Festival – we will be pleased to provide a collecting box. SHUTTLE BUSES Friday:
Town > Eskdale School > Town.
Stops
are (please signal): Harrison’s
Garage (Upgang Lane)…………………..
8pm then every 30 minutes approx. Captain
Cook’s Monument The
last bus will leave Eskdale School for the town at 12.15am. Saturday:
Eskdale School > Pavilion > Eskdale School. Pick
ups will start at the school from 6.30pm and then roughly half hourly
through the evening until 12.30am. From
12.30am until 1.30am the shuttle will be replaced by 2 coaches which
will shuttle from the Spa to the school to give extra capacity.
Please note we can't all get on the last one and the committee
reserve the right to the last seats.
Ha, ha, ha, isn't power convenient! Sunday: Eskdale
School > Pannett Park. Two
buses will shuttle from the school to Pannett Park for the parade, from
10.00am until 11.15am. If
you are not attending the workshops or the conference please try and use
one of the earlier buses. Eskdale
School > Pavilion > Eskdale School. The
shuttle bus will run between Eskdale School and the Pavilion. Pick ups will start at the school from 7.30pm and then run
roughly half hourly through the evening until 12.30am. From
12.30am until 1.30am the shuttle will be replaced by 2 coaches which
will operate between the Pavilion and the school.
As with lifeboats, it’s Committee members, women and children
first (in that order!) THE EVENTS FRIDAY 28 MAY
Schools
Event: Anyone
arriving early is welcome to take in our performances with and for local
schoolchildren. If you have
a team, let us know in advance and we’ll programme you in.
Some overseas groups and one or two UK teams will demonstrate
their dances at local school and several schools are sending teams of
their own. The event will
culminate in a massed performance at the Bandstand (near the West Pier)
from 1pm-2.30pm. See our
website for more details nearer the date. Welcome
Event: A real ale
bar run by our friends from the Tap & Spile pub will be open at
Eskdale School main hall from 7pm – 12.30am.
This is a time for everyone to gather and meet friends new and
old from the UK and overseas and, at past events, it’s always been a
cracking good do. A special
free Shuttle Bus will run to/from the school for those staying in the
town centre (see above for times), so it's up to you to make things go
with a bang. Bring
instruments, lubricate your vocal chords and get on with it! SATURDAY 29 MAY
8.45
– 10.30am Conference
& Workshops (see below)
Tours:-
Most teams will tour by coach to Robin Hood's Bay, Goathland or Staithes
on either Saturday or Sunday (teams coming for one day only will stay in
Whitby). Tour details have
been arranged to match coach capacity with the numbers booked to date
(important: late bookers cannot be guaranteed places) and are enclosed. For
those who have been to earlier Sword Spectaculars, we’ve tried to send
you to different tour destinations but this has not always been
possible. The 10am tours
depart from the Eskdale School main entrance on Eskdale Road, and the
2pm tours from near the Co-op Supermarket, Langbourne Road (near the
Railway Stn). Please arrive before the departure time – your coach cannot
wait. A tour co-ordinator
will be on hand to help you find the right coach, each of which will
have a Tour Leader to organise dance performances during the tours. Individual
ticket holders (i.e. not in a team) may travel on any of the tours,
subject to space being available. PLEASE ARRANGE THIS AT FESTIVAL OFFICE
IN ADVANCE. Town
Performances: At
other times on Saturday/Sunday afternoons, your team will be programmed
to dance in Whitby. Please
collect details of timings from the Festival Office.
Stewards will co-ordinate performances at the main locations. Civic
Reception (1) hosted by the Mayor of Whitby - all UK teams please
send one representative to this event at Pannett Park Museum (off St
Hilda's Terrace, up from Flowergate) from 4.30 - 6-00pm.
Two overseas groups will perform here 4.15-4.45pm. Late
Night Ceilidh: Saturday
night's alright here, from 8pm-1.30am, late bar to 1am. Dance until the wee hours to "Bedlam" - one of the
UK’s top young bands, plus floor spots including the overseas teams
who have to depart before Sunday’s Gala Concert. SUNDAY 30 MAY
8.50
– 10.45am Conference
& Workshops (see below) Parade:
ALL
TEAMS are to take part. Form
up at 11.30am outside Pannett Park Museum (see timetable for details of
free Eskdale School > Pannett Park shuttle bus from 10am).
Team Parade Stewards please collect the parade order at the
briefing or from the Festival Office).
Move off under police supervision at 11.45am PROMPT via St Hilda’s
Terrace, Flowergate, Brunswick Street, Baxtergate and St Anne’s Staith/Pier
Road to the Bandstand.
Limited transport will carry instrument cases, sword bags, etc -
please remove yours promptly at the Bandstand. PLEASE
DO YOUR BEST TO LOOK SMART DURING THE PARADE.
March in order and formation - this our biggest public showcase
for the weekend and for Sword Dancing in general.
Thank you. Tours
& Town Performances:
Those teams touring on the Sunday will depart from East
Terrace (by Royal Hotel, top of Khyber Pass) IMMEDIATELY after the
parade – details enclosed. Groups
not on tour will perform around the town. Gala
concert & Civic Reception (2): ALL
TEAMS still present will perform in the Gala Concert at The Pavilion.
This will start at 4.30pm prompt and running until about 9pm (or
until everyone has danced). During
this concert, a second Civic will be held, this time with the Mayor of
Scarborough and other VIPs, at the Pavilion Bar from 5pm – 6.45pm.
Representatives of ALL TEAMS should attend and presentations will
be made to all participating teams. Then we have a p.a., a licence to 1am and the rest is up to you - musicians and callers are invited to join in a do-it-ourselves dance with the Festival Band – it’ been a big hit at previous Sword Spectaculars and some interesting floor spots are already planned. MONDAY 31 MAY
Campsite
closes 11.00am. Any
assistance with clearing up, dismantling and stacking our overseas
guests’ beds, etc would be massively welcome.
Please volunteer to the Festival Office from 9.30am – many
hands make light work and you will be our friend for life! All
remaining teams will dance in Goathland at the lunchtime, with a
farewell drink, outside the Goathland Hotel (“Aidensfield Arms”) and
Inn on the Moor, before moving down to dance at the delightful Birch
Hall Inn at Beck Hole. Basic
overnight outdoor camping only will be available (see under
“Camping” above). For
More inforniation:
up to Wednesday 27th May, contact Vince Rutland, Festival Secretary, on
01609 780536 (eves/weekends), 37 Church View, Brompton, Northallerton,
North Yorkshire DL6 2QX or e-mail svrutland@onetel.net.uk After
this, call Keith Thompson on 01947 8963111, Stuart Higson on (mobile) 07973 937519 or Vin Wynne on (mobile 07930 360564) or Vince Rutland on
(mobile 07788 726915). CONFERENCE, WORKSHOPS & OTHER EVENTS Conference:
At Eskdale
School, from 8.45 – 10.30am on Saturday and 8.50 - 10.45am on Sunday.
Entry is free to Festival ticket holders but limited to 50
places each day. We expect a heavy demand for this event.
Anyone coming specifically for the Conference should contact us
before the Festival so we can reserve seats for you.
Free tickets will be available for others at the Festival Office
from Friday night, with any vacant spaces being available on the day.
Arriving late for the conference sessions is discourteous to
speakers and interrupts their flow, so please try to be prompt. Each
talk will last 15-20 minutes, with a question/answer session at the end
of each day’s talks. We
have done out best to enable you to attend the Conference and go on the
dance tours; regretfully, however, some Saturday tours must leave before
the conference session closes; an announcement during the session will
allow anyone booked on a tour to leave in good time.
Conference papers for all the lectures will be published after
the Festival, price £12.50, and can be ordered from the Festival
Office. The
Conference sessions are: Saturday 30
May: 8.45am:
Introduction by MC Phil Heaton. 9am
Colin Messer – “The White
Boys Dance” An
unusual Isle of Man sword tradition. 9.20am
Felix Momen – “Tongeren
sword dance revival” With
the original swords in the town museum, a tradition ended by Napoleon
comes back to life. 9.40am Chris
Metherell – "Can you spot the difference?"
A
fascinating look at traditions on video with Morris Ring archivist
Chris. 10am Question/answer
session with the speakers Sunday
31 May: 8.45am:
Introduction by MC Phil Heaton. 9am
Tom Kruskal – “Sword
Dancing New England Style” UK
traditions in the US. 9.40am:
Richard Traves tbc 10am Question/answer
session with the speakers Workshops:
At Eskdale School from 8.45 – 10.30am on Saturday and 8.50 -
10.45am on Sunday. Entry
free to Festival ticket holders. Saturday
30 May: Rapper
– Brush up your style with DERT winners Black
Swan. Junior
Workshop: A fun
session for beginners aged 5+ with Ryburn
Longsword. Make simple
kit, join in Sunday's parade and dance in public!
Continues on Sunday. Trawantel:
A rare chance to learn this unusual Flemish stick and hoop dance
with Lange Wapper. Sunday
31st May: Longsword:
Southport Swords
teach the ancient Papa Stour from the Shetlands
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