Stainsby Festival

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Stainsby Festival, 2005.

Stainsby Festival is a small, annual folk music event held in the Derbyshire village of Stainsby, England. It usually takes place in July over three days.

The festival is one of the oldest folk festivals in the country, with the first being held in 1969. This year (2008) it celebrates it's 40th Anniversary festival - called appropriately enough - "Child of the Sixties", from July 18th to 20th

It is a very family-oriented event, with children's storytelling tents, group rhythm workshops and face painting activities taking place. Camping is available in a field immediately adjoining the main arena.

The festival has two stages. A large marquee constitutes the main stage, and a smaller tent makes up the second, also known as 'The Space'. Each year's lineup is varied, but tends to be predominantly acoustic folk.

Each year, the festival ends with a procession, usually involving the use of fire. In 2005, the procession was centered around a flame, apparently originating from the fires of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped. This coincided with the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.