Considerate Folkie Guide
HOW TO GIVE THE MOST TO...AND GET THE MOST OUT OF THE FESTIVAL
Show some love
Please treat your fellow Festival goers with the same respect and consideration you'd want them to show to you.
Bring the music!
We love the spontaneous music and sessions around the site, in the campsites and on the open stages. Bring your acoustic instruments and please start sessions, though not near to the boundary where they could disturb local residents, or to sign up for the Club Tent. If it is raining after the stages finish, sessions can take place within Stage 2.
Get involved!
There are music workshops, sessions, tai' chi and healing workshops, plus opportunities to play onstage at both sites. Kids and young people have even more music, craft, sessions and activities especially for them.
Respect the musicians
Please don't sit within the marquees reading books or the papers when artists are performing. It is disrespectful to artists and there are many other people who would like to get closer to see an artist, if the one performing isn't a favourite of yours. Artists choose to play Cambridge because of the attentive audience; let's keep it that way.
Quiter camping
We recommend Coldhams Common Campsite which is more peaceful, spacious and child friendly. At Cherry Hinton Hall Campsite we have designated the area near to the crèche, together with any area close to the boundary and nearby houses, as family or quieter camping. Wherever you are camping show some love to your fellow campers and keep your noise to a reasonable level.
Explore the Festival
Why not visit the quieter areas of Cherry Hinton Hall like the duck pond or the nature reserve? Within the campsite there is storytelling, a crèche and play area, a playground, free Internet access at the Folknet Café and more.
Visit Cambridge City
Why not explore the historic City centre or do some shopping, sometime over the four days? Buses stop right outside the Festival and you can buy a dayrider ticket with unlimited stops for a day.
Join our online community
On the online community section of this website you can link to our myspace page, post and view photos, read our blog, access message boards and more.
Help make the Cambridge greener
We are committed to making the Festival more environmentally friendly but we need your help. There is a refill system on all plastic glasses in the bars, to reduce waste and litter. Please refill, not landfill. Help us to keep the site tidy and recycle using the bins, skips, recycling bags and points provided. Wherever possible, please use public transport or www.liftshare.com to get to the Festival. Free regular buses are provided from the City centre/bus and train stations. See the environment section of the website for more details of what we are doing.
Don't bring glass
Glass breaks and is dangerous. There are large numbers of people onsite and many children. Please do not bring glass. No glass is allowed in the arena, with the exception of our Festival tankards, which are very rarely broken.
Don't be a space hog - use space considerately
Minimise what you bring into the arena and how much space you take up. There isn't room for garden furniture, so please leave it at home. Despite rumours to the contrary, over the years we've reduced the numbers of tickets for sale, though the site has become more crowded as people have brought more stuff. We used to have an outdoor stage during the day in front of the Stage 1 marquee and the audience would fit into this space to view performances. However, even though we have done away with this outdoor stage and effectively doubled the space in the arena, the arena often feels crowded and hard to move around. This is largely because people are bringing more stuff such as chairs and blankets, so minimise what you bring and how much space you take up.
No sun shades in the arena
Sun shades are no longer allowed in the arena as they take up space and obscure people's views. This includes the edges of the arena.
Keep blanket sizes to a minimum in the arena
Don't leave blankets on the ground if you're not occupying them, to reserve space or allow them to join up so people can't walk past. Keep blankets appropriate to the size you need and the people using them at the time. Areas becoming joined up by blankets and people marking territory causes access problems. Stewards may ask you to move or remove blankets.
Don't bring chairs into the arena unless you really need them
We prefer the use of low folding back supports like this, which are also allowed within marquees.
Marquees & Arena - allowed
Arena - allowed
Marquee - not allowed
Arena - not allowed
Marquee - not allowed
