Come to Wadebridge folk festival over holiday weekend

Live music, street entertainment, children's festival, daily ceilidhs, craft fair, local food and beer...

It's all happening at Wadebridge Folk Festival 2010 in north Cornwall this holiday weekend August 27-30.

Headliners include Martin Simpson & Dave Swarbrick (left), who are touring together for the first time in 14 years, the legendary Andy Irvine, and multi-instrumentalist Dogan Mehmet & The Deerhunters.

Find all the information you need about artists, events, food, drink and accommodation here at Wadebridge Folk Festival 2010. You can also follow the Wadebridge Folk Festival on Twitter

Street entertainment in Wadebridge this Saturday

Tom and Jord

Wadebridge town centre comes alive this Saturday 21 August with circus performers and musicians.

Entertainers include comedy juggling duo Haggis and Charlie and world-famous human statue Diony Robo. They're appearing alongside Padstow singer Toby Lobb of Loveridge, Cornish samba band Los Samba, and local musicians Tom and Jord (pictured), as well as singer Pete Ciemo and friends.

The Magic Roundabout, a replica hand-driven Victorian merry-go-round, will entertain children on The Piazza on Saturday 4 September.

The three-week programme, on Saturdays 21 August, 28 August and 4 September, takes place on The Platt and in Molesworth Street from 11am onwards.

It's raising funds for the Children's Hospice South West Precious Lives appeal for its third hospice - Little Harbour at St Austell.

Mary Murfin, Community Fundraiser for Children’s Hospice South West, said: “Wadebridge will be coming alive with street entertainment for all to enjoy. At Children’s Hospice South West we are all about raising a smile to make the most of short and precious lives. I can’t think of a more vibrant and fun way to help us build our new hospice, Little Harbour, in Cornwall.”

When we asked friends of Lovewadebridge.com what they thought would improve the town centre, a popular suggestion was top-quality street entertainment. If the town likes what it sees, this could become a regular feature of the Wadebridge weekend.

If you have comments on what you see or ideas for future entertainment, please send them to busking@lovewadebridge.com

Dormice 1: Morrison's 0

Picture: David Chapman Wildlife Photography

The Wadebridge Town Football Cub planning application to relocate to a new site at Bodieve has been deferred.

This has had the knock-on effect of delaying the Morrison's superstore proposal. The company wants to build on the existing football ground and is paying for the club to move to a new site outside the town's development boundary.

The decision's been deferred for two reasons:

• To await the results of the dormouse survey

AND

• To await new data from the environmental health officer who has raised last-minute concerns about noise impact on the adjoining caravan park and nearby homes at Bodieve.

So we should be hugging her as well as the dormice!

The environmental health officer’s concerns were contained in a last-minute addendum to the agenda papers which were only made available to councillors at the meeting. 

Planning officer Gavin Smith recommended that the application be deferred for a thorough acoustic analysis of the situation in the absence of “robust” data from environmental health. “The environmental health officer has noise concerns fringing on an objection. We need a proper assessment of this serious matter,” he said.

Councillors agreed. The meeting of the East sub-area planning committee of Cornwall Council on 12 August also heard that the applicant’s agent was prepared to accept the delay.

Dormouse obstructing Morrison's development

The Planning Officer has recommended refusal of the application to move the Wadebridge Town Football Club ground and training pitches as:

"There is a reasonable likelihood that dormice are present on the application site and the applicant has failed to establish the extent to which the proposal will impact upon this European Protected Species."

This means that Morrisons' application should be delayed until the dormouse question has been resolved, probably later in the year. However the decision on what should be done, and whether the planning officer's recommendation should be followed, will be made at the East Sub-area Planning Committee meeting at the Council Offices, Camelford, at 5.00 pm on Thursday 12th August 2010.

Further insights on this blog, and this one.

Lewis Carroll anticipated this situation in Alice in Wonderland:
"The Dormouse: You've got no right to grow here.
Alice: Don't talk nonsense. You know you're growing too.
The Dormouse: Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace, not in that ridiculous fashion."

Wadebridge Street Entertainment Programme

The street entertainment programme will be launched on Saturday 21st August, and will include a variety of musicians and other surprises, including Haggis and Charlie, who have wowed audiences around the world with their award-winning action packed mixture of humour, daring and charm. The show features such feats of juggling and stupidity that it should really carry a health warning. "It's not just the comedy and skill which makes this show so endearing, it’s the complete clash of personalities.” (If you have suggestions for future entertainers, please email busking@lovewadebridge.com)