Find out about the secrets of the planning of folk east, why it started, the challenges and the best moments in this exclusive 2022 interview with the organiser, BECKY MARSHALL POTTER.
10 years of Folk East is an excellent excuse to find out more about the festival, its quirks and its organisers. So I was delighted to spend half an hour with Becky Marshall-Potter, who with husband John is not only the creator and organiser of Folk East, but also takes full responsibility for the financial risk of the festival. I start with asking Becky why they started Folk East?
Well, both John and I have always liked folk music. We used to run an event called ‘gig in the park’ in Halesworth (in Suffolk, a few miles away from the Folk East grounds). We did that for about 15 years and that was very much an event for the town with familiar old names, like the Stranglers and bands like that playing; different types of music. As we always liked folk, we thought to move on to something that we'd really like to do, which led to Folk East. Folk music feels like it's music that anybody can enjoy and join in with, you don't have to sit there and passively watch it- you can actually sing along, join in and play. There’s a lovely inclusivity of it.
Folk East has become our lives now. There was a point when we didn't know whether we were going to continue it. You have to make it work financially. And I'm really glad we did keep it going. Because it is really special. We love it.
Over the last 10 years, what was the funniest moment for Becky?
Perhaps the time that my son who drives some of the forklifts, he was picking up a toilet. And luckily just before he picked it up, somebody walked out of it. So that was quite funny, and fortunately it was fine.
What was the most memorable moment?
Oh wow. There have been some moments which have been absolutely knockout. Most of them have been moments when I felt really happy about the festival. That's what you remember. And there was one time, in 2019 - John and I don't often get a chance to come out and wander around the festival and see what's going on- and at that time we managed to walk around the place and I suddenly burst into tears. Because I felt so happy at seeing everybody having a nice time. Moments like that are really special.
And then you get something like when Bellowhead played and you just dance your socks off. It's like last night when Fitty Gomash were doing the ceilidh and I stuck my nose in and there was a small child dancing with the storyteller John Row with his big beard dancing in his cape with this big smile on his face. And there were lots of young and old people dancing which was lovely as it was such a mix of people.
It's like a big family. Someone told me that they love Folk East because it’s where their partner proposed to them- there's something really special about that.
It's like you know everyone. Somebody said to me, it's like, you come here and you think, you know everybody, but you can't know everybody. And that's a really nice thing to say.
One of the special things about Folk East is its quirkiness. The site is full of art features, and the festival has create its own characters and stories. Most prominent is what has become the festival’s icon: The Jackalope – a hare-looking creature with long horns. So I wonder, how did the jackalope come about?
We've always had weird ideas for Folk East. The Jackalope came about when we talked about mythical creatures and suddenly this story developed about a Jackalope. There were obviously lots of Jackalopes in Suffolk at one point. And, they were quite mean, they had big horns and they would take the front of your car out - and you know, the story got wilder and wilder so we thought let's make it real.
Mat Bayfield [who, as a great singer and even greater character, used to be one of the local heroes of the festival] who very sadly passed away a couple years ago - his dad used to be the gamekeeper on the Glenham Hall Estate [the setting of Folk East]. And so we made up that part of the story that Mat Bayfield's grandfather, as gamekeeper, killed the last Jackalope. So that was not good. And then artists made for Folk East all these wonderful displays (see photo of this year’s giant Jackalope). I think that this year’s sculpture is just absolutely staggering.
Part of the Folk East fun is creating these stories and creating our own folklore, if you like. We came up with the idea of the East Folk - so you got Suffolk, Norfolk and East Folk, which is the folk of east. We just like playing around with ideas. But it’s the jackalope that really caught people's imagination.
How much of the year do you plan it, is it a full-time job?
We have already started planning for next year. Some people say, what a lovely hobby you've got (laughs), but it is the whole time. Both of us have other smaller jobs and things that we do just pay ourselves, but on the whole, it's a full-time job because it's mainly down to us. We have this amazing group of volunteers who work with us and do bits and pieces, which is really great, and we couldn't do it without them. Like Mandy does the art arcade, she is a brilliant printmaker, and she spends months putting that together for us, which it's all voluntary. It's quite extraordinary what she does. We are incredibly lucky. And it wouldn't happen without them, to be quite honest. But for us there is so much work to do behind the scenes, like dealing with councils, dealing with licenses, dealing with bookings, programming.
What were the biggest challenges over the last 10 years?
Oh there’s lost of challenging stuff. You know, when it rains, that’s ok – you’re at festivals, people don’t mind too much, it's just a bit miserable. But the biggest challenge we have had is wind. It can get really windy, and that can scupper any festival, like you have to lower the stage. Our biggest challenge this year was making sure it was safe because of the fire risks. And last year it was obviously COVID so there's always a challenge somewhere along the line. The challenge originally was to keep it going to 10 years, now we got there - we've done it. We're here. We're here to stay.
Where do you see it going in the next 10 years.
That's a really good question. Both John and I, when we decided to start the festival, we never wanted it to be big. For me it is about having enough space and feeling personal and intimate. Currently, it is a good size. And if we can make this size work from a financial point of view, perhaps with 1000 more people, that would work for us to be able to pay. So if we got up to about 4,000- 5,000 capacity. Then you know, you can keep it going financially.
But what's really nice is our children, our two boys, are beginning to take the festival over from us in a certain sense. That's great. One of them is the site manager who designs and puts it all together, he’s very practical and works out all logistics. And the other one focuses on marketing - it is him and his partner who put the new logo together. So they're slowly beginning to take on the story of Folk East and the festival is beginning to move into next generation, which is really nice. But it's with the same ethos.
If you had a magic wand, what would you use it for?
Getting Bellowhead back (Note – Bellowhead were reuniting this autumn for a one-off tour but have not done any festivals this summer). I tried so hard this year but it didn’t work out.
I'd like Folk East to continue as this little bubble of a place. I just love the feel of it and I don't want to ever lose the essence of it. So if I had a magic wand I’d like it developing and evolving but keep the essence of what it is. You could add bits to it and take bits out, but it's the heart of what it is.
See also A Superb Programme of Music - Folk East 2022! Next Folk East is 17th-20th August 2023!
Photo Credits:
(1) Folk East (unknown/website);
(2ff) Folk East / Becky Marshall Potter (by The Mollis).
