As well as our lineup of ticketed venue artists, lively dance programme and workshops, we also offer a range of other events at the Priddy Folk Festival.
Join us for poetry, art, workshops, walks or a Sunday service!
The Caravan Gallery
Village Green (Free) (See board outside for opening times)
The Caravan Gallery is a collaboration between artists and photographers Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale, who use photography to document what they call the ‘reality and surreality’ of everyday life. Founded in the year 2000, The Caravan Gallery is also a mobile exhibition space and itinerant social club on wheels, housed in a vibrant yellow reincarnated 1969 caravan that has travelled thousands of miles, taking contemporary art to unexpected locations and tens of thousands of people in Britain and abroad.
For Priddy Folk Festival, Jan and Chris have created a bespoke ‘Portrait of Priddy’ display to show alongside a mini retrospective exhibition featuring firm favourites from their 25-year archive of life in Britain. Meet the artists, peruse their hilarious ‘reality’ postcards – including a new one for Priddy – and create your own in a drop-in postcard workshop.
Poetry at Priddy
Friday 19.30 to 21.30 St Laurence’s Church (Free)
To kick the free programme off, the village church will host four poets reading their poems about nature and place. Between The Acts will be supplying the musical interludes.
Sean Borodale will read from Asylum, written deep within the caves, mines, quarries, geological and archaeological horizons of the Mendip Hills. Alyson Hallett grew up in Street, and has a particular interest in stones and how they migrate. JLM Morton’s ecopoetic writing explores contemporary rural experience and belonging, and Philip Rush writes about walks, vinyl LPs and stone circles.
Qigong with Mark Pogson
Saturday & Sunday 9.30 Market Square
Mark has drawn on many traditions and practices of Qigong to create his own Magpie Qigong style. Feel energised with Chinese health exercises, relax, stretch and flow. Free.
African Music Together
Saturday 15.00 to 17.00 Village Hall (Wristband Only)
This session is guaranteed to be entertaining and spontaneous. Take Matchume Zango (Mozambique) on timbila and mbira and add Jali Bakary Konteh (Gambia) on kora (they have never met!), throw in some friends and djembe drums, and anything could happen. This grew out of last year’s session, which was a bit of a riot and a comment made by Matchume. He said that back home in Africa, musicians would just come together in the middle of the village and make music all day and all night. We only have a couple of hours, but you get the idea…
Sunday Festival Church Service
Sunday 9.30 St Laurence’s Church
Come and be part of the service in our beautiful 13th century village church! All are welcome to join in and to sing hymns with the Somerset Russets.
Guided Walks
Meet at the Festival Office on the village green. Please arrive at least 5 minutes before the start. The walks will involve some stiles and rough paths, and may be unshaded so bring a sun hat and water if it is hot. Free.
Archaeological Walk with Dr Jodie Lewis
Saturday 14.00 – 16.00
Dr Jodie Lewis is a prehistorian at the University of Bradford who has particular interests in the Neolithic, Mesolithic and Bronze Age. Currently, Jodie is running the Priddy Environs Project – the parish contains a wealth of archaeological sites ranging from earlier prehistory to the 20th century, including funerary and ritual sites, settlements, agricultural structures and mining remains. Come and walk with Jodie whilst she talks about what her extensive research tells us about this significant landscape.
Wildlife Walk with Les Cloutman
Sunday 10.30 -12.30
A gentle walk from the village green around the environs of the village. Led by a local expert, you will have a wonderful opportunity to look and hear about the wildlife, flowers, landscape and history that makes Priddy and the Mendip such a wonderful Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.