Fairport's Cropredy Convention (formerly Cropredy Festival) is an annual festival of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and rock music, headed by British folk-rock band

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

and held on the edge of the village of

Cropredy Cropredy ( ) is a village and civil parish on the River Cherwell, north of Banbury in Oxfordshire. History The village has Anglo-Saxon origins and is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The toponym comes from the Old English words ''cropp'' ...

in Oxfordshire, England. The festival has taken place in August annually since 1976. Fairport's Cropredy Convention attracts up to 20,000 people each year. The festival features a single stage at the lower end of the sloping arena field. There are also ancillary events, such as

Morris dancing Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

in the streets and live music at the village's two

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

History

The festival began as a private performance to about 750 people by the

British folk rock British folk rock is a form of folk rock which developed in the United Kingdom from the mid 1960s, and was at its most significant in the 1970s. Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the ...

band

in a village back garden in July 1976. The next year the performance was repeated and opened up to the public. In 1978 it was properly organised and moved to a larger site behind the Cropredy village school. It became a significant event in the band's history as they played their farewell performance there on 4 August 1979 to around 4,500 people, who were cheered by a promise to continue with annual reunions. From this point the festival became the main mechanism for preserving the identity of the band and for their many fans to show their appreciation.F. Redwood and M. Woodward, ''The Woodworm Era: The Story of Today’s Fairport Convention'' (Thatcham, Berks, UK: Jeneva Publishing, 1995), p. 76. FairportsCropredyConventionStageView

At the first reunion in 1980 the festival was expanded from a one to a two-day event with increasing numbers of guest acts. In 1981, lacking a suitable site at Cropredy, it was shifted to the grounds of

Broughton Castle Broughton Castle is a medieval fortified manor house in the village of Broughton, which is about two miles south-west of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England, on the B4035 road (). It is the home of the Fiennes (in full Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes) ...

, a performance released as '' Moat on the Ledge – Live at Broughton Castle'' (1982). The festival returned to Cropredy the next year (and has remained there ever since although the actual site has expanded over the years). Despite the fact that Fairport Convention was not active as a band from 1980 to 1985, the festival continued to grow. After the band reformed in 1985, the festival became Fairport's major platform for showcasing new material as well as revisiting the old. Between 1981 and 1999, the festival was a two-day event. From 2000, it was expanded to three days—Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The festival takes place on the second full weekend in August. Originally known as just "the Cropredy reunion", the event was branded Cropredy Festival until 2005 when it was retitled Fairport's Cropredy Convention. In 2007, all available tickets were sold in advance for the first time (this would not happen again until 2014). In 2008, a live on-stage video screen was introduced. The year was also notable because, for the first time, not a single theft from the campsites was reported to festival control over the whole three days, underlining the unique and friendly atmosphere for which the festival is famous. In 2010, highlights of the festival were televised on

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

for the first time, with a documentary presented by radio DJ and television presenter Bob Harris. This continued through to 2012. In 2013 and 2014 the Whispering Bob Broadcasting Company uploaded highlights of the festival on their YouTube channel. From 2015 onwards, highlights from Fairport Convention's Saturday night set have been uploaded on their official YouTube channel. In 2020 the festival did not take place due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and so a broadcast of Richard Thompson and Fairport Convention's full sets from the 2019 festival was streamed on the official YouTube channel. To celebrate forty years of the festival, a documentary called ''Summer by The Cherwell'' was released in 2020.

Outline of the festival

The event is organised largely by Gareth Williams, the Festival Director, and also

Simon Nicol Simon John Breckenridge Nicol (born 13 October 1950) is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the ...

and

Dave Pegg Dave Pegg (born 2 November 1947) is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of folk ...

, both members of Fairport. Fairport themselves open the festival on the Thursday evening with an acoustic set, and close the festival on the Saturday night. The majority of attendees camp for the duration of the festival. There are eight separate camping fields adjacent to the arena, one of which is reserved for family parties. Fairport's Cropredy Convention is aimed at all ages with an emphasis on families and has developed a reputation as a particularly friendly and safe festival. As well as a wide range of live music, the event features three dozen stalls selling clothing, books, CDs and food. It also boasts a very large bar which specialises in

cask ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

which is provided by

Wadworth Wadworth is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 1,229, reducing to 1,137 at the 2011 Census. Notable buildings in the village include Wadworth Hall Wadworth ...

, a brewery based in

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...

, Wiltshire. The bar is used by festival-goers and performers alike (there is no back-stage bar), making Cropredy one of the few major festivals where the public can mingle with the musicians playing there. In recent years, the running times for live music have been 4 p.m. until 11 p.m. on the Thursday and noon until midnight on the Friday and Saturday. Also recently, there has been a wider spread of genres of music, expanding out from the original folk roots of the festival.

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

the Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

Dreadzone Dreadzone are a British electronic music group. They have released eight studio albums, two live albums, and two compilations. Career Dreadzone were formed in London, England in 1993 when ex- Big Audio Dynamite drummer Greg Roberts teamed up ...

and

Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993 in Oxford. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey ( ...

have played at Cropredy in recent years. Among many well-known acts appearing in recent years are

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotl ...

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson. Life and care ...

Yusuf Islam Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later i ...

and

Oysterband Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976. History Early history The band formed in parallel to Fiddler's Dram, and under the name "Oyster Ceilidh Band" played purely as ...

(see below for others).

The pre-Cropredy "warm-ups"

On the Monday and Tuesday before the festival each year, fans get a foretaste of what is to come at the festival when Fairport Convention stage "warm-up" concerts at a local club venue. Until 2007 these concerts were held at the Mill Arts Centre in

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

. From 2007 until 2010 the concerts were held at Woodford Halse Social Club (

Woodford Halse Woodford Halse is a village about south of Daventry in Northamptonshire. It is in the civil parish of Woodford cum Membris , which includes also village of Hinton and hamlet of West Farndon. Hinton and Woodford Halse are separated by the infa ...

is a village in Northamptonshire approximately nine miles northeast of Cropredy) but returned to The Mill in 2011. In 2017 the warm-ups moved from The Mill to Banbury Trades And Labour Club, following in the footsteps of P J Wright (fellow band-member with Dave Pegg in the Dylan Project) who had moved his annual TRADarrr pre-Cropredy Wednesday gig to the same venue in 2016. The warm-ups are concerts in their own right and also provide Fairport Convention with the chance to rehearse their set for the following Saturday.

Appearances

''These performers are generally listed with the headline act last.''

2023

On 12 December 2022 it was announced that the festival would be happening on 10, 11 and 12 August 2023 with headliners

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured t ...

on the Friday and other sets by Toyah &

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

Kiki Dee Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. Dee is best known for h ...

& Carmelo Luggeri, Gilbert O’Sullivan and the UK farewell performance from

Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known fo ...

2022

;Thursday 11 August 2022 *The Trevor Horn Band *Clannad *Edward II *Thumping Tommys *Fairport Convention Acoustic ;Friday 12 August 2022 *Steve Hackett - Genesis Revisited *Turin Brakes *Sharon Shannon *Slambovian Circus of Dreams *Martyn Joseph *Home Service *Emily Barker *Maddie Morris ;Saturday 13 August 2022 *Fairport Convention & Friends (inc Full House) *Richard Thompson *The Matthews Baartmans Experience *Rosalie Cunningham *The Bar Steward Sons Of Val Doonican *Holy Moly & The Crackers *Seth Lakeman

2021

In 2021 the festival did not take place due to the

2020

In 2020 the festival did not take place due to the

2019

;Thursday 8 August 2019 *Fairport Acoustic *Lil'Jim *Tors *

Gogol Bordello Gogol Bordello is an American punk rock band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 by musicians from all over the world and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring. Much of the band's sound is inspired by Ro ...

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...

;Friday 9 August 2019 *

The 4 of Us The 4 of Us are a rock band from Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland.(24 January 2003)The 4 of Us to play Dublin in March ''RTÉ.ie''(5 April 2003)Just the Four of Us '' Billboard'' Of the four founding members, only brothers Brendan and Dec ...

* Wildwood Kin *Will Pound & Eddy Jay *

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

& Wakeman *

Caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

Seth Lakeman Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...

* Richard Thompson & Friends *

Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primar ...

& the

Sleeping Souls Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited Perception, sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefuln ...

;Saturday 10 August 2019 *

Richard Digance Richard Digance (pronounced DYE-jance; born 24 February 1949) is an English comedian and folk singer. Early life Digance was born in Plaistow, East London. After his family moved to nearby East Ham, he attended Vicarage Lane Primary Sch ...

* Daphne's Flight *

Tide Lines Glasgow-based 4 piece, Tide Lines, have grown their large & passionate fanbase through blistering live shows and their trademark anthemic songs. Bending the edges of a number of genres, their neo-folk/rock sound has massive appeal. This unique ...

Zal Cleminson Alistair Macdonald "Zal" Cleminson (born 4 May 1949) is a Scottish guitarist, best known for his role in The Sensational Alex Harvey Band between 1972 and 1978. In 2017, he put together a new rock band - /sin'dogs/, which recorded and released ...

's /sin'dogs/ *

Martin Barre Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...

Band plays 50 years of Jethro Tull *

Martin Simpson Martin Stewart Simpson (born 5 May 1953) is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in Britain, Ireland, America and beyond. He builds a purposeful, often upbeat voi ...

& Friends

2018

;Thursday 9 August 2018 *Fairport Acoustic *Smith & Brewer *

Police Dog Hogan Police Dog Hogan are a British band whose music combines elements of country, folk and bluegrass. The band have been active since 2008 and released five albums and three EPs. History The band was formed by vocalist James Studholme and fiddle pl ...

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

Presents

Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the 11th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 on th ...

;Friday 10 August 2018 *Mera Royle & friends (Scran) ( BBC R2 YFA Winner) *Midnight Skyracer * The Travelling Band * Cregan & Co * Le Vent Du Nord *

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

Kate Rusby Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973) is an English English folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Sometimes called the "Barnsley Nightingale", she has headlined various British folk festivals, an ...

Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populis ...

;Saturday 11 August 2018 *

*Eric Sedge *

The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican are a British comedy folk and parody band from Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Formed in 2006, they claim to be the hardest working comedy band in the UK, having played over 1200 shows throughout the UK. They ...

Will Varley Will Varley (born 7 March 1987) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and visual artist. He is one of the founding members of the arts collective Smugglers Records. Since self releasing his debut album ''Advert Soundtracks'' in 2011 he has ...

*Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys *

Afro Celt Sound System Afro Celt Sound System is a British musical group who fuse electronic music with traditional Gaelic and West African music. Afro Celt Sound System was formed in 1995 by producer-guitarist Simon Emmerson, and feature a wide range of guest artists. ...

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock so ...

& Friends

2017

;Thursday 10 August 2017 *Fairport Acoustic Convention *Feast of Fiddles *

Show of Hands Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots/folk duo formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley (guitars, mandolin, mandocello, cuatro) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, mandolin, mandoc ...

The Trevor Horn Band The Trevor Horn Band are an English group formed in 2006 as The Producers, when they included record producers Trevor Horn (bass and vocals) and Steve Lipson (guitar), and musicians Lol Creme (guitar and vocals) and Ash Soan (drums). The band ...

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

;Friday 11 August 2017 *Josie Duncan and Pablo Lafuente *The Gerry Colvin Band *Quill *Gigspanner Big Band *CC Smugglers *Pierce Brothers *

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

* Richard Thompson ;Saturday 12 August 2017 * Morris On *

Judy Dyble Judith Aileen Dyble (pronounced ''Die-bull''; 13 February 1949 – 12 July 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, most notable for being a vocalist and a founding member of Fairport Convention and Trader Horne. In addition, she and Ian McDona ...

and the Band of Perfect Strangers *

Plainsong Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgy, liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in La ...

* Cats in Space *

Marillion Marillion are a British rock music, rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becomin ...

Dougie MacLean Dougie MacLean, OBE (born 27 September 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Described by AllMusic as "one of Scotland's premier singer-songwriters", MacLean has performed both under his ow ...

& Friends

1976 to 2016

Appearances prior to 2017 are documented at

Fairport's Cropredy Convention appearances This is a list of artists who have played at the various Fairport Convention Fairport's Cropredy Convention over the years. Appearances after 2016 can be found in the article Fairport's Cropredy Convention. 2022 ;Thursday 11 August 2022 *Fairp ...

References

External links

Fairport Convention's website

Guide to Cropredy Festival

''Cropredy Festival''
at

eFestivals eFestivals is a website listing music festivals; hosting information on line-ups, interviews, photographs and live reviews. The website boasts an active discussion board with over 225,000 registered users, which now runs on a separate server fr ...

* {{Authority control 1976 establishments in England English folk music Folk festivals in the United Kingdom Music festivals established in 1976 Music festivals in Oxfordshire Rock festivals in the United Kingdom

History

Outline of the festival

The pre-Cropredy "warm-ups"

Appearances

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

1976 to 2016

See also

References

External links