I spoke to Simon Nicol recently about this years Fairport's Cropredy Convention ...
Simon, how many years is it that you've been really actively involved in developing the Cropredy festival? Was it 1975 it started?
Yes, around about then...
Cropredy was the first family-friendly festival that centred around a band, although there are several similar events existing now...
The festival initially started as an adjunct to the village fete and we in the band were just guests at the event. It very quickly grew out of that scale and we started running it ourselves, in co-operation with the village, and it's been managed in-house ever since.
And it's unusual for a festival to be so tied to its location isn't it?
Well yes it is tied, and it's only plausible because of its beginnings, having started literally as part of the village fete day, you couldn't impose something of that scale on a village unless you had that kind of continuing history and goodwill. The villagers have shown us exactly how they feel about it by dedicating a bell to us, you can't get any more permanant than that!
What's the capacity of the event now?
The license has always been for 20,000, including everybody that works there as well as children, who we don't charge for. So in a sell out year we'd probably get around 16,000 to 17,000.
How closely are the band involved in the whole event?
It varies. I'm probably the most involved at the moment. Traditionally, when it was growing, it was done by Dave Pegg and his wife Chris. She was the Chief Executive and he was the face of it, but that obviously changed 4 years ago (Dave and Chris divorced), and we set up a new structure and Gareth Williams is now the boss of it. I've really taken over Peggy's role. But I have a lot to do in the office and I've enjoyed that extra string to my bow!
It takes a lot of work making something like this go smoothly...
Yes, I couldn't do it, Gareth is the hero...
Tell us about the line-up...
You've got to keep it interesting, because it's not a festival with a clear musical policy, we like to include all manner of music and ask the audience to trust us in our choices. We do it our way, a lot of festivals have gone the way of putting on multiple stages and having a lot of things going on at the same time. That doesn't work for us, and people have got used to the idea of having one central stage and time off between the acts. There are so many fringe things happening in the village as well, it's more than just a field where people go and listen to music, it's a place where people go and camp and holiday for 4 days and meet with friends, the festival extends far beyond the arena field in terms of what people are doing...
That's what gives it that uniqueness...the whole range of music and the people that come to that gig- they can be anything from 7 to 70 can't they?
You get babysitting happening in both directions of the vertical family!
It struck me last year that there were more festivals than ever, a lot have sprung up over the last couple of years...
It's true, and one of the reasons they are citing for Glastonbury not selling out.
There are many reasons why festivals fall short of their expected targets, it certainly is true that there's a lot more choice, which is surprising when you consider how difficult it is to get something started and how much you have to learn to put on an event, it's not easy. It's good that small communities have small events, but they'll be lucky if they catch the wave and continue to grow and develop the way Cropredy has over the last 30 years.
I think that's pretty unusual. And I think the weather we've had over the last couple of years has probably dented some festivals.
In England you have to be prepared for anything...
It's always amazed me, that with the weather here, we've got one of the healthiest summer festival scenes of anywhere in the world
And despite the weather, not because of it...
Has the venue always been the same within the village?
It's been on its current site since 1982, it's always been in the village apart from in 1981 when it happened at Wroughton Castle. That was in the early days and we were trying out new ideas. However we decided it should go back to the village, and we've been lucky enough to have had a good relationship with all the landowners who've been stewards of that particular farm since those days and long may it continue because it's a perfect bit of landscape, it's the right size, everybody's got good sightlines, we're all very comfortable there and I know a lot of people wouldn't have the same kind of summer if they weren't able to be in that particular location for that weekend of the year.
Well no, you're part of the summer scene in the UK....
Absolutely and I know the fact that the villagers welcome this annual invasion speaks volumes for the way in which we've managed to maintain excellent relations with them.
And I've guess you've had to resist expanding and doing lots of extra things?
I think it's the right size, and the roads and infrastructure wouldn't support anything too much larger than that. Most people come along and stay put for the whole duration...
Was there a conscious reason for holding the festival on a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday rather than a Friday, Saturday and Sunday?
We always had it on the Friday and Saturday so that people would have the Sunday to recover, and when we discovered we could add a third day we decided we'd push it back into the week rather than the weekend, just to keep the Sunday clear for everyone to put their shoulders down and not to panic, and it also gives us a chance to have a game of cricket if it's a nice day!
How integral has the festival been to Fairport's continuing success?
I think it's been absolutely central. It energises everybody involved with the band to be part of that event, no matter if they have no involvement in the structure of the event and just turn up and play the set on the Saturday night. It's such a buzz to be forcefully reminded that what you do professionally and musically has reached out and touched all those people...
The final part with 'Fairport and Friends', it sounds like you have a lot of fun deciding who you're going to pull in and what you can do with them?
Well it's a challenge, we use the core material from the current band, but the sky's the limit to what we can add on to that from either ex-members or close friends, or you can go completely left-field and invite people who haven't got a obvious connection with Fairport but whose music is appealing....
Is there a little bit of everyone coming to the table with the songs they'd like to do?
Oh yeah, eveyone's got a wish list!
You have a compere every year, Bob Harris this year, are they chums of yours that you pull in for this?
Yes, mainly existing friends or people who have come to the band because of the music and become friends thereafter. Danny Thompson has made the job his own over the years, he's an act in his own right. Jeff Hughes has done the same thing and is an excellent other side of the coin to Danny.
I'm looking forward to it a lot, it'll be a great 3 days...
Iain Hazlewood
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