THE Whitby festival Musicport and the Waterson Carthy Family are linking up to present Normafest, a weekend in celebration of all things to do with Yorkshire folk music legend Norma Waterson MBE in early January next year.
The two-day event will be a rare chance to see Norma, 77, perform live alongside friends, family and special guests at Whitby Pavilion, in West Cliff, on January 6 and 7, with tickets on sale via musicportfestival.com/Normafest
Norma, who was born in Hull and lives in Robin Hood's Bay, received a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in recognition of her being one of the most important figures in English folk music since the folk revival of the 1960s.
Together with her husband, the guitarist and singer Martin Carthy MBE, and their fiddle-playing daughter, Eliza Carthy MBE, along with Norma's late brother Mike and sister Lal, the family are largely responsible for sustaining and growing the interest in English folk music. Three Mercury Prize nominations have come their way too, helping folk music reach out to new, younger audiences.
On-going health issues render Norma unable to travel, which makes Normafest, now in its third year, such a special occasion for Norma, her family and folk devotees alike.
The poster for the 2017 Normafest in Whitby
Among the guest performers will be American folk veteran and long-time friend of Norma, Peggy Seeger; young folk bands Stick In The Wheel and The Furrow Collective and self-styled Dublin folk miscreants Lynched. The Waterson Family will give a rare performance on the Friday and the two days will climax with a set by The Gift Big Band, featuring Norma, Martin, Eliza Carthy, Neill MacColl and special guest Richard Hawley.
The Sheffield troubadour and guitarist has long been an admirer of Norma’s musicianship, having first met her while researching a BBC documentary. Their friendship inspired Hawley to write Heart Of Oak, the stand-out track on his 2015 top ten album Hollow Meadows, and he dedicated the song to her at his Fibbers gig in York in September.
Norma is keen that as well as the musicians and singers who will be joining together in January, the work of those no longer with us will be shared through three film showings: Travelling For A Living, focusing on the early days of The Watersons; Where You Are Meant To Be, featuring the late, great Sheila Stewart, and Land Of Green Ginger, Alan Plater’s 1973 evocation of Norma’s hometown, Hull.
Additional elements of the third Normafest will be interviews, informal sessions in the theatre bar, DJ Dolphin Boy in the café and a Yorkshire food produce market with cookery demonstrations, led by chef, comedian and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli on the Friday.
The first day's events will run from 3pm to midnight; the second day from midday to midnight. Tickets cost £45 for both days or £25 for January 6 and £30 for January 7 on 01947 603475 or at musicportfestival.com
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