Frank Kidson (1855-1926) was a key player in the explosion of interest in traditional song and music in late Victorian and Edwardian England, and his pioneering book Traditional Tunes (1891) was one of the three founding works of what became the first Folk Song Revival. As well as collecting songs in the field, he amassed … Read more
Julia Bishop pointed out this interesting lecture: The North American British Music Studies Association is excited to share our next Online Colloquium event: Oskar Cox Jensen, “Ballad Singing: Music and History.” The importance of street balladry to much of British social, cultural, and political history between, say, 1580 and 1850, is hard to deny. Its … Read more
Details of this year’s lecture can be found on the website https://roypalmerlecture.org/new-2026/
It is a long way off yet, but I can share the news that Mossy Christian and Megan Wisdom have invited the TSF to hold a conference in the lovely city of Lincoln in the spring of 2027. We will let you know how the plans unfold.
The TSF have taken over the running of the Roy Palmer Lecture series, with financial assistance from a new sponsor. This years’ lecture will take place at Whitby Folk Week as usual. The speaker will be Katie Howson, who will talk about traditional women musicians in East Anglia. More details to be announced shortly.
A new film, made as part of the ongoing joint project ‘Gypsy and Traveller Voices in Music Archives’, involving the VWML, the University of East Anglia and researchers from the University of Sheffield, was premiered at the 9th Ake Dikhea? International Festival of Romani Film in Berlin on 11 October. Library and Archives Director Tiffany … Read more
The annual online lectures on contemporary and historical folk music, song and dance.13 January: Elizabeth Bennett – Dorothy Marshall and the Women of West Sussex10 February: Sue Allan – Merry neets, morris and more: social and display dancing in the Lake District and Cumbria10 March: Lucy Wright – Folk is a Feminist Issue! Uncovering the … Read more
Sat 15 Nov: 12:30pm This year’s Hamish Henderson Memorial Lecture is presented by David Francis, hosted by TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland). Tradition as Heritage: Enclosing the Commons The UK Government signed the 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2024 and is currently looking at what that means in practical terms. … Read more
The video of this year’s Roy Palmer Lecture has not been added to YouTube, and can be found at https://youtu.be/kV8VODiuGAU. The lecture will be given by the well-known folk performer, Jon Boden and was titled ‘The Folk Revival – a view from the middle’. In it he reflected on the ups and downs of an … Read more
As we have the Archive conference coming up, members might be interested in a blog just released of an interview with Steve at the National Folklore Collection in Dublin more or less on that topic.