Hello Fairporters!
It’s now less than seven weeks to go until Cropredy 2024 gets underway.Excitement builds – here in the Fairport office things get busier by the day and visits to the festival site are becoming ever more frequent. Even the weather has perked up! Yes, we know it’s notoriously difficult to forecast the weather months ahead but overall, 2024’s July-August isn’t looking bad at all
There’s so much to look forward to this year. This will be the forty-fifth Cropredy and will celebrate the event’s friendliness and unique vibe.
We’ve got a great line-up of music; the headliners include Rick Wakeman & The English Rock Ensemble, The Trevor Horn Band and us, Fairport Convention. The full line-up is on our website.
We’ve also got a great variety of trade stands and food outlets – choose from twenty seven top quality food stalls and twenty craft/clothing stands – not forgetting Cropredy’s wildly popular Merchandise Emporium where you can buy this year’s festival T-shirt and more!
On a different tack, this year has not been without difficulties for music festivals and other outdoor events. As Simon wrote in April, the cost of staging festivals has risen sharply and a number of them have gone to the wall.
So it’s not surprising that we’ve had queries from some of you asking how we’re doing in the current climate. Well, the answer is that Cropredy will go ahead as normal. In the longer term, we are confident that with your support Cropredy will continue for many years to come.
If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, please visit our online box office as soon as you can. And as Simon wrote in April, please bring a friend!
Talking of tickets…
Cropredy Grand Prize Draw reminder
 In our previous newsletter, we told you about the Harmony Voyages Grand Prize Draw. Everyone who buys (or has bought) Cropredy tickets will be entered automatically to win one of Harmony’s fabulous music-themed Costa Festival holidays.
The winner can choose between three 2025 events; Ibiza, Portugal or the Costa Winter Festival.
The draw will take place and the winner will be announced at Cropredy on Saturday 10 August at 8.30pm.
Click to find out more about Harmony Voyages and Costa Festivals.
Warm-up gigs
Our traditional ‘warm-up’ shows at The Mill Arts Centre in Banbury have sold out on both evenings (5 and 6 August).
Joe Boyd on-stage talk at Cropredy
 Many of you will be familiar with Joe Boyd, the legendary musical entrepreneur who discovered Fairport Convention in the summer of 1967. Joe secured a contract with Polydor for the young band and went on to produce their self-titled debut album and several of its successors.
Known for his acclaimed memoir, ‘White Bicycles’, Joe’s latest book is ‘And the Roots of Rhythm Remain’.
Joe will take the stage at Cropredy on Friday 9 at 11.10. He’ll tell the backstories to world music and describe his encounters with the most extraordinary musicians and producers who have altered the course of music for us all. He will discuss how personalities and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston and Rio are as colourful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon or Liverpool.
Published by Faber & Faber, the book will be officially launched late in August so the event at Cropredy is a pre-launch launch. After his talk, Joe will be at the signing tent (on the arena next to the CD shop) to sign copies.
Peggy in Prog magazine
 Fairport’s bass player Dave Pegg is to be the subject of an in-depth article in Prog magazine, the only music mag solely devoted to progressive music in its many guises.
The ‘Prog Interview’ feature usually runs to six pages and spans the whole of the interviewee’s musical career. In Peggy’s case, writer James McNair covers everything from the Uglies in the mid 1960s to today’s Fairport via an 11-year stint with Jethro Tull.
Glamper Hampers
Great news for Glampers! While we’ll be doing food on Wednesday evening when you arrive (14.00 – 19.00) and breakfasts as usual on Broad Meadow Glamping Field (07.30 – 10.30), at all other times, food will come in the form of Hampers which can be taken out of the Glamping Field and into the arena should you so wish. Check out the fabulous Menu in the FAQs. These may be pre-ordered online and paid for on site.
To pre-order your Glamper Hamper, please email fairporthampers@gmail.com. When ordering, please state your full name, which Hamper you require and which day. Also, please state any allergies you may have.
Hampers may be returned either to the Glamping kitchen or to SMAC, the Mac and Cheese stall next to the stage.
Jill Swarbrick-Banks: new Cropredy painting
 Especially created for the 2024 Cropredy Convention Festival.
Artist, Jill Swarbrick-Banks, has created a brand-new work – ‘The Cropredy Crowd’ – depicting how you, the audience, appear to bands from the stage – a sea of happy faces in the evening, faces that feel one big heart full of love!
The painting will be on show and for sale at the Foxer Fine Art stall (just above the Cropredy Bar). Pre-orders of this work on greeting cards and beautiful full colour A2 giclée prints are available from Jill’s website now.
We look forward…to welcoming you to Cropredy. See you on the field.
Simon, Peggy, Ric and Chris |
