In the second instalment of our interview series, we chat to Cat McGill, Director of Folk Weekend: Oxford about how the festival is changing in the face of coronavirus.
Daily Info: Tell us about your project.
Cat McGill: Folk Weekend: Oxford is an annual festival that takes place on the third weekend of April in Oxford city centre. We fill the city with music, dance, colour and joy! There are lots of free events taking place throughout the weekend, as well as music sessions that anyone can join in with, ceilidh dances where we talk you through the moves, and concerts where you can sit and soak up some beautiful music. The streets of Oxford are filled with music and Morris dancing and there’s a brilliant atmosphere all over the city centre.
DI: How have you adapted to the social distancing measures?
CM: Well, obviously the festival can’t happen in its usual form, but we are not going to let that stop us! We have changed into an online event - there will still be free concerts streaming from our Facebook page all weekend, and interactive sessions using Zoom for people who want to share tunes and songs.
Our ticketed events will now be held on Zoom, which has given us an unexpected advantage over the live events - it will now be possible for audience members to interact directly with the artists during the concert, speaking to them over their microphones to ask questions, and request favourite tunes or songs. We think this is going to make the events really unique and special.
DI: What are you planning for when things get back to normal?
CM: We are hoping to run a grassroots music event in the Autumn, where all the Morris dancers and local musicians can get out and show us what we missed - but mind you, I expect everyone else will be wanting to do the same thing, so we might have to see if there’s a space in the calendar!
DI: How can people support you now?
CM: You can buy tickets to our online events, or view the line up for our free events at www.folkweekendoxford.co.uk. Send us a photo of yourself enjoying the festival from home!
DI: What are you doing to relax while stuck at home?
CM: There’s not much time for relaxing at the moment - we’ve had less than a month’s notice to replan an entire festival and figure out how to make it work online! Once this is all over I will get my crochet out and sit in the sun for a week or so, I expect!