Folk Singing Symposium Delegate Welcome Pack

Access Folk is a research project exploring ways to increase and diversify participation in folk singing in England. Like many in the arts, the folk scene is facing hardship because the impacts of covid-19 and the current economic climate are affecting venues, organisers, amateur and professional singers and audience members alike. These issues, combined with the ageing of many of the scene’s key activists, raises questions about how the folk singing scene in England might develop over the coming decades. At University of Sheffield, a team of academic and community partners are looking into the current problems and testing potential solutions. The five-year project (2022-2027) hopes to prompt action to help increase accessibility to folk singing for more diverse populations in England.

The project team ran a symposium 24-25 February 2023 looking at performance, participation and inclusion across a range of folk singing contexts within England and around the world. The symposium drew on emerging research by the Access Folk project team alongside contributions from other academics, folk singers and organisers. Activities included a range formats including papers, panel discussions, posters, films, workshops, singarounds and demonstrations.

This submission comprises a Delegate Welcome Pack for the event, including abstracts.