More about BlokeFest
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BlokeFest is a festival organized by Blokes for Blokes to unlock their inner minstrel for a weekend and join in doing Blokey things, like visiting a Brewery, singing hearty songs, going for manly yomps across the countryside to a pub, singing, drinking ale and eating hog roast (or Veg Roast) and doing a bit more singing.
It's not particularly serious, but is serious fun. We have paid heed to the tons of information we got back from everyone in the questionnaire about last year's BlokeFest and this year we plan to have (slightly) More Men, even More Singing and much More Stuff! We are also trying to be a little bit more organized in our administration of the event, hence the improved website, more stuff happening on facebook and other bits and bobs. Thanks for your interest and see you in June. The BlokeFest Inner Circle |
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How do you describe BlokeFest?
Well, it's not easy... you can form your own impression from watching some of the stuff that happens at BlokeFest in this short video.
BlokeFest MAN-ual
BlokeFest is largely about Blokes having a great time and singing songs together in ways that have been lost in this modern world, er, apart from us. So, to help with this process we put together the BlokeFest MAN-ual, a Song Book to help blokes remember the songs and the words on the weekend and hopefully inspire them to sing with other blokes on their return from the event. The leading lights behind the festival, The Magnificent AK47, certainly have by pinching most of the songs that were taught at previous BlokeFests for their repertoire!
This year's Song Book will include some or all of the following titles
This year's Song Book will include some or all of the following titles
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1. Let me through
2. Just because 3. Down to the river to pray 4. Dumane 5. Magazena 6. Rawhide 7. Ani vodka 8. Glagolitica 9. Now let us sing 10. I can’t get no satisfaction 11. Haul away Joe 12. Concrete 13. Mraval jamier 14. Gaudete |
15. The Holly and the Ivy
16. While shepherds watched 17. Malpas Wassail 18. Hail Smiling Morn 19. Duct Tape Madrigal 20. Tsmindao21. Delilah 22. Alone in my shed 23. The Dry Stone Waller’s Song 24. A Song of the Weather 25. The Turnip Hoer’s Song 26. A Drop of Bushmills 27. A Gringo like me 28. Benjamin Bowmaneer 29. Good Ale 30. Rolling Home |
31. Sloop John B
32. South Australia 33. Teach your Children 34. The Hippopotamus Song 35. The Last Shanty 36. The Wild Rover 37. Ah, Robin 38. And I love her 39. Shen Xar Venaxi 40. Unsung Heroes No 1 – Edwin Beard Budding 41. Ashton Keynes Land Shanty 42. Norwegian Sailors song |
Are there any missing you would like to contribute? If so, send the Title, the composer(s) and the lyrics to [email protected] and we'll see what we can do before the deadline.
The Story behind "BlokeFest"
Our story begins in late 2011 when someone misheard a good idea and it turned into an even better one . . .
The motley crew that are The Magnificent AK47 had just finished their very first Yuletide "Beer and Carols" evening in their home of Ashton Keynes and were mulling over organizing a genteel little A Capella festival in the village the following year. Somehow, in the the heady excitement of the afterglow of the performance and amidst the haze of beer and mince pies, this idea morphed into being a festival for just blokes and the whole thing snowballed beyond mere pubtalk, survived the holiday period and gathered pace in the New Year.
A team, known as The BlokeFest Inner Circle, was formed and managed to draw upon a surprisingly wide range of talent who were pressed into action to research who could run Singing Workshops and to organize other manly activities, such as Axe throwing. Unfortunately Axe throwing didn't make it past the "keep it simple" sanity check that happened a few weeks later, but sure enough, the schedule started to crystalize and eventually chrysalis-like a thing of beauty emerged from it's unpromising beginnings that was BlokeFest 2012.
The motley crew that are The Magnificent AK47 had just finished their very first Yuletide "Beer and Carols" evening in their home of Ashton Keynes and were mulling over organizing a genteel little A Capella festival in the village the following year. Somehow, in the the heady excitement of the afterglow of the performance and amidst the haze of beer and mince pies, this idea morphed into being a festival for just blokes and the whole thing snowballed beyond mere pubtalk, survived the holiday period and gathered pace in the New Year.
A team, known as The BlokeFest Inner Circle, was formed and managed to draw upon a surprisingly wide range of talent who were pressed into action to research who could run Singing Workshops and to organize other manly activities, such as Axe throwing. Unfortunately Axe throwing didn't make it past the "keep it simple" sanity check that happened a few weeks later, but sure enough, the schedule started to crystalize and eventually chrysalis-like a thing of beauty emerged from it's unpromising beginnings that was BlokeFest 2012.
Comments from Attendees
We did a little follow up survey after the event and these were some of the nicest comments we received (there weren't any nasty ones! So we must have got most things right).
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"Hugely enjoyable and looking forward to next year".
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"Genuinely memorable, lots of good singers and convivial atmosphere."
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"More fun than this gloomy old geezer had expected."
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"I thought it was utterly brilliant and a total triumph. I'm really looking forward to another chance to do this".
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"Can't wait to do again".
"It really did surpass all my expectations". |
