Registered Charity (England & Wales) No 1131484
Harmonica 2011 - at The Folk House, Bristol, UK
Friday 28th October to Sunday 30th October, 2011
Harmonica 2011 - at The Folk House, Bristol, UK
Friday 28th October to Sunday 30th October, 2011
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Welcome to the NHL Festival in Bristol
This page shows the overall organisation of the festival. Details of artists, competitions, prices, hotels etc will be updated as more information becomes available... The artists appearing in H2011 include Rory McLeod, Rick Epping, Philip Achille, 'Johnny Hewitt and Tommy Allen', Gerry Ezard and Ben Hewlett. ... more to come. We will have repair and maintenance demonstrations from Seydel. Chris Jackson (Slim's Custom Cases) will be showing his harmonica cases and taking orders, and we hope Seydel, Hohner and Suzuki will set up shop for the weekend. You can see videos from all of the artists who performed in the Saturday Evening Festival Concert on youtube
Disclaimer: The weekend will include jams, competitions, workshops on playing, performance, and repair. The main concert will take place on Saturday night. The information shown below is the best we have at the moment and more will be added as we get closer to the event. Amendments may be necessary if circumstances change.
Video preview of the artists and activities at the H2011 NHL Harmonica Festival SummaryFollowing the huge success of last year’s festival we have organised another event packed weekend for every type and style of harmonica player. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, H2011 will be another unmissable event in Bristol with Rory McLeod, Rick Epping, Philip Achille, and 'Johnny Hewitt and Tommy Allen'. This is a fantastic weekend with workshops, contests, shops, and an International Gala Concert. It is also great value. We understand that money is tight and so we have kept the ticket prices at the 2003 levels despite the many costs increases. In addition to the artists headlining the concert there will be other well known artists taking part in activities around the festival, such as Gerry Ezard, Ben Hewlett, Lee Sankey, and others ... Click here for booking forms for the festival and contest. Click here to visit the Bristol H2011 Festival Facebook Event Group. Friday 28th OctoberInformal meet and greet night from about 7pm. Blues jam and chromatic open mic. NHL AGM will take place around 8pm. We hope as many members as possible will join us to help set up the venue for the weekend activities. We will be there from early evening. All help is greatly appreciated and will ensure the festival runs as smoothly as possible. Please contact David Hambley if you can help in anyway. Come and enjoy the night, and meet the committee.The Annual General Meeting will take place at 8pm. The move to a Registered Charity has increased the number of members required to be present to achieve a quorum to a greater number than we usually achieve at the AGM. Any NHL member who cannot attend the AGM who would like to provide a proxy vote should contact the Secretary, David Hambley. We need your support. David will provide the background and answer any questions. Following the AGM at about 8:30pm there will be a blues jam with a band in the concert hall run by Ben Hewlett and a free play session for chromatic players with backing tracks in the Music Room. Saturday 29th OctoberDoors open 9.15amThe competition will take place in the main hall on the Saturday, starting at 9.30am. There will be the usual wide range of workshops running through the day to provide invaluable information on all aspects of harmonica playing. There will harmonica traders with all the harmonica wares you need as well as the opportunity to pick up a bargain in the lunchtime auction. The Saturday evening concert will feature NHL members and well known artists. Sunday 30st OctoberDoors open 9:30am. A Sunday afternoon concert follows where members, children and artists can all join in and perform. Saturday Evening ConcertThis year's artists will include
Evening concert starts about 7:30pm and runs till 11pm. Contest InformationDetails will be posted a few months before the event. Adjudicator - We are fortunate to have an experienced adjudicator - David Beer - from the Federation of Festivals to officiate at the contest. He has a lot of experience of youth music and has been involved in a wide range of music styles and West End Theatre and touring productions. WorkshopsWe have three rooms dedicated to workshops on Saturday and Sunday morning. The workshop topics include the usual wide range through from beginner to advanced tuition, diatonic, tremolo and chromatic, harmonica maintenance, classical, blues and jazz. We hope to have details of the workshops in the October issue of Harmonica World and a full program will be posted here before the event. ShopsSteve Proctor of Sutherland (Hohner) hope will have their full range of harmonicas on display. Steve will be accompanied by Richard Weiss (Hohner Product Manager - Harmonicas). Chris Jackson will exhibit and sell his customised Slim's Harmonica Cases. Ben Hewlett hopes to have his range of tuition books/CDs and harmonicas. All this is in the upstairs shopping rooms. Seydel will be present in force again and their room will have a full product display as well as their repair clinic, where you can check the state of your harmonica with Dr Bertram Becher and Jamie Dolan. AuctionKeith Parker will lead the very successful lunchtime auction on Saturday, so bring your cash or cheque books and pick up a bargain. If you have any CDs, music or equipment etc. which you would like to donate for the auction, please let David know. We need your money to run events like this, so dig deep. VolunteersLots of hands make light work, so please look for ways to help, so don't wait to be asked if you see an opportunity. Ask Steve, Ben or Barbara at the ticket or NHL desk when you register and they will let you know what needs to be done. You can always email David Hambley in advance to let him know. This is important if our events are to continue. LocationThe two and a half day festival will take place inside the Bristol Folk House (0117-9262987), a popular Adult Education Centre in Bristol. It is a multi-level building at 40a Park Street, a hundred yards north of the Cathedral, in the centre of Bristol. It has a concert room, a licensed café, and half a dozen workshop rooms. The main entrance is through a short passage between two shops on Park Street, a lively shopping area. There is limited on-street parking, but cheap all day parking on Saturday and Sunday in the Trenchard Street (P1) and West End (P2) multistorey car parks marked on the map. The one drawback of this venue is its many levels and tight staircases which make it very difficult or impossible for anyone with physical disabilities. Bristol is a great location, as everyone found who attended last year's festival. There are lots of things to enjoy - click here for information about Bristol for tourists. The old docks area has been refurbished and brought alive again. The new interactive "At Bristol" development complements the old streets, pubs, restaurants, churches, museums, and restored old sailing ships. There's a lot to do, even for non-harmonica players. Why not make a weekend of it? TransportBristol has a compact city centre and is very easy to reach by motorway, coach, rail and air. If travelling by train the station is 'Bristol Temple Meads'. Or why not take advantage of the cheap flights into Bristol airport? AccommodationBristol has accommodation of all types and prices, but don't delay booking as the best goes very quickly. There is a YHA (0117 922 1659), and the Bristol Backpackers (0117 925 7900) in the city centre, both at about £20 per night. The Bristol Tourist Information Centre, 01179462222, has details of B&Bs. There is a Travel Lodge and a Holiday Inn Express in the town centre usually at £50 to £60 a night. If you want a modern hotel, our suggestion is The Bristol Hotel, (was Jurys), Prince Street, Bristol BS1 4QF. They are holding single rooms at £85 B&B and a room for two adults at £90 B&B - when booking quote National Harmonica Visitor. It is about half a mile from the Folk House. Tel: 0117 923 0333, The Bristol Hotel email, and The Bristol Hotel Web Site. This is the main festival hotel, where the artists, committee and most members meet up before and after the festival events at the Folk House. Two other first class hotels which have excellent facilities are the Mercure Holland House Hotel and Spa, Tel: 0117/9689900, and the Ramada Jarvis hotel, Tel: 0844 815 9100. Both are located between Temple Meads Station and the City Centre close to the Folk House. Price usually start about £65. NEW - Here is a great list of hotels for all budgets put together by the Folk House. Remember hotel room rates can change according to demand so you might be able to negotiate a better price. Festival Contact Information
Here are directions to The Folk House in Bristol.
The Bristol Folk House and Co-Operative Ltd, Click here for maps of the area Click here to visit the Bristol H2011 Festival Facebook Event Group. Click here for booking forms for the festival and contest. View details of last year's festival: Harmonica 2010 Here are some memories of last year's festival Harmonica 2010. Some YouTube videos from the concert, Mark Pickthal's great photos from the Concert NHL H2010 image Gallery, plus slide shows from Patrice Rayon from Paris and Leonid Nagaev from Russia.
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