The 46th Marymass Folk Festival
Wed 21st – Sunday 25th August, 2013
Wednesday 21st – Sunday 25th August… on the picturesque Clyde Coast opposite Arran lies Irvine…. it’s a 30 minute train journey from Glasgow.
There are concerts, sessions, an open stage competition, events in schools, community concerts and not forgetting two World Championships – the amazing Whammy-Diddling and the even more amazing Chuckie-Chucking.
Artists booked so far are – Wendy Arrowsmith; Celine Donoghue & Neil Sturgeon; Emma Durkin; Nick Keir; The Paul McKenna Band; The Stavanger Harbour Band; Bram Taylor
Umpteen good reasons therefore to come to Irvine in the third week in August…..and we haven’t even mentioned the other attractions happening in the town at that time – a Horse-Drawn Parade, Fireworks Display, Flower Show, local Football Derby, 10K Road Race, Heritage Tours……..
Irvine in August – come and join us!
For an idea of what happens at a typical Marymass Festival, see the details below from our 2012 event.
Marymass Folk Festival 2012 Flyer
MARYMASS FOLK FESTIVAL PROGRAMME 2012
Festival guests: The Barbara Dymock Band, Celine Donoghue & Neil Sturgeon, Drantan, Tom McConville Duo, Stephen Quigg and The Stavanger Harbour Band will be playing at various times during the Festival.
Wednesday 22nd August
Coffee Afternoon Folk
Mure Church Hall, West Road: 1pm-3pm, £2
Formal Opening of the 45th Marymass Folk Festival
The Marymass Queen Elect will open the Festival followed by
The Open Stage Competition
Vineburgh Community Centre, Quarry Road: 8pm – 11pm, £5
Thursday 23rd August
The Thursday Lunchtime Sessionwith Festival Guests
The Ship Inn, Harbourside: 12.30pm – 2pm, Free
Concert for Senior Citizens
Sponsored by Irvine Rotary Club
With Festival Guests
Woodlands Centre, Kilwinning Road: 2pm – 4pm, Free
Singers’ Concert
with Barbara Dymock, Heather Heywood, Celine Donoghue & Stephen Quigg + Festival Guests
Vineburgh Community Centre, Quarry Road: 8pm – 11pm, £15
The After Concert Singaround (Open to concert-goers only)
Vineburgh Community Centre: 11pm-ish until late, Free
Friday 24th August
Marymass Folk Festival at School!
With Festival Guests
Sponsored by Irvine Rotary Club
Haysholm School, John Galt and Stanecastle School: 11am – 12noon
The Friday Lunchtime Session
With Festival Guests
The Ship Inn, Harbourside: 12.30pm – 2pm, Free
Folk Music at Options for Independence
With Festival Guests
Sponsored byIrvineRotary Club
British Red Cross House: 2pm – 4pm
The Danny Kyle Tea-Time Session
With Festival Guests and Friends
The Ship Inn, Harbourside: 4.30pm – 6pm, Free
Concert: The Barbara Dymock Band+ Festival Guests
Vineburgh Community Centre, Quarry Road: 8pm -11pm, £15
The After Concert Singaround (Open to concert-goers only)
Vineburgh Community Centre: 11pm-ish until late, Free
Saturday 25th August
The Marymass Saturday Bash
With Festival Guests and Friends
Woodlands Centre,Kilwinning Road: 11am – 3pm, Adults £1 – Children/Seniors 50p
Marymass Saturday Night Concert
with The Outside Track + Festival Guests
Volunteer Rooms, High Street: 7.30pm – 12midnight, £15 – Seniors/Children £12
The After Concert Singaround (Open to concert-goers only)
Volunteer Rooms, High Street: 11.30pm-ish until late, Free
Sunday 26th August
The Marymass Survivors’ Session
With Festival Guests and Friends.
Includes the amazing World Whammy-Diddling Championship and the difficult-to-follow World Chuckie-Chucking Championship.
Woodlands Centre, Kilwinning Road: 2pm – 6pm, Free
MCs at the festival will be Dominic Boyce, Bill Nolan and Willie Sinclair.
B.Y.O.B. Please note, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights are BYOB.
Concert tickets - £15 (£5 Open Stage) are now available at Irvine Folk Club or by post from Joyce. Please send an SAE, with cheque payable to Marymass Folk Festival and send to 7 Machrie Place, Kilwinning KA13 6RW
Festival Saver ticket for Irvine Folk Club members,£40 for all evening concerts
Accomodation -enquiries to www.visitscotlandaccomodation.co.uk
Thanks: A BIG thank you to our donors for their support both financial and in kind. It is very much appreciated.. They are - North Ayrshire Council;IrvineRotary Club; Ivybank Veterinary Clinic; The Ship Inn; Sandy Muir ; Fasprint Services; Living Tradition. … thanks also to everyone who helped with Irvine Folk Club’s fundraising for this year’s Marymass Folk Festival. .….and as always, thanks to ZISYS AVMN for excellent PA and patience!
Marymass Folk Festival is organised by Irvine Folk Club which meets fortnightly at 8pm in Vineburgh Community Centre, Quarry Road, Irvine. Floor singers and musicians welcome. The Club starts back on Wednesday 5th September with David Francey.
All Marymass Folk Festival information - Phone Joyce 01294 551047
Historical
Marymass Folk Festival is part of the town’s annual Marymass Celebrations. It was set up in 1968 by members of Irvine Folk Club. The Folk Festival became very popular very quickly not just locally but nationally and was in many ways a forerunner of the many other folk festivals which followed throughout Scotland. The festival is rooted in the community and was set up to bring top artists to Irvine.
The identifiable base for Marymass Folk Festival and Irvine Folk Club for the first 30+ years was The Eglinton Arms of fond memory. In the early days of the Festival three or four venues a night were used! There were queues to get into The Eg, The Fullarton Arms, The Sun Inn, The Garnock Inn, The Ship and the old Meadow Club in West Road – happy days filled with memorable music.
Those heady days are no more but the folk flame still flickers, kept alive by Irvine Folk Club which each year in the third week in August continues to bring top quality artists to Irvine at Marymass Folk Festival.
World Championships
How many towns hold two world championship events in one day? Yes, each year skill, strategy and stamina are tested at Marymass Folk Festival’s World Whammy-Diddling and the World Chuckie-Chucking Championships. The latter is sometimes known as FiveStones and the origins thought to be in Govan. Suffice to say that it is a keenly contested competition with winners having come from as far away as Ardrossan and even further.
The first world Whammy-Diddling title was contested in 1968. It is believed that visiting folk musician Ewan McVicar brought with him an old Appalachian folk toy which he had picked up on his travels….although whammy-diddle doesn’t sound very Appalachian. However….whilst it was traditionally a bamboo shoot and a ball made of pith with hooks on it, at Marymass, a special man-made consignment of whammy-diddles is delivered.
The challenge is …by blowing through a small pipe, to hook a ball to a ring attached to the pipe at right angles….this gains a half-point…another half-point is won if the ball can be unhooked and returned safely to the bowl at the end of the pipe. Clearly, amazing breath control is essential.
No monetary prize is awarded. The honour and prestige of winning a World Championship in Chuckie-Chucking or Whammy-Diddling is priceless!
The Marymass Folk Festival is organised by Irvine Folk Club.
