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Musicport Whitby. By Jamie Renton.
ue and Jim also run the local music shop in Whitby, which helps by giv- ing Musicport a face on the high street (although it’s now a sepa- rate business). It keeps them in touch with local musicians and the local community in general. “Musicport started as a communi- ty business and our raison d’être is to be integral to the town; to provide educa- tional and performance opportunities for local artists, broaden the spectrum of available live music for local audiences and bring additional tourism to the area, as well as increasing the area’s cultural pro- file.” They also organise school workshops and have, for the last fourteen years, pro- vided regular early years music education in the town.
S Given the festival’s broad musical poli-
timber-shivering North Sea winds of its home in Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast), its diverse bill takes in world, folk, jazz and pop artists, alongside stand-up comedy, poetry, films and cookery demos.
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The festival is the brainchild of Jim and Sue McLaughlin. “We moved up to Whitby from London in 1989,” Jim recalls, “and were offered the chance to run a book- shop/café which had an upstairs concert hall. After two really wonderful seasons of concerts, including some acts from Africa and other far-off places, we approached the Arts Council, who suggested a festival for the millennium and so we obtained some funding for a one-off world music festival outside the busy summer season.”
The bill of that first fest set the varied template for future line-ups, with Labi Siffre, E2K, Bhangra band Sansaar and the Manchester Adventist Gospel Choir amongst those appearing. “Having only sold about thirty to forty tickets in advance, we were a little despondent,” Jim remem- bers, “until on the weekend itself, when 350 people turned up. On the Sunday morn- ing we sat and cried whilst the gospel choir
ow celebrating its 20th year, Musicport is a festival like no other. An indoor winter weekend fest (good thing too, given the
sang with the North Sea as their backdrop. When the weekend finished everyone said they were coming back the next year. So that’s how it started.”
Having hit on a winning formula first time round, they haven’t meddled with it too much over the years. “The venue being indoors and limited in size obviously restricts major changes,” Jim explains. “I think stability has allowed us to be as adventurous with the programming as we can within our budget constraints, which are tighter than in the days we had Euro- pean funding. We can’t afford to pay our- selves as we used to, so we have to rely on other income and cut our cloth accordingly. I think in the current climate a festival that promotes music as a universal language is probably even more important than it was back then.”
Jim tells me he finds it hard to name his favourite acts from over the years, but if pushed he would single out the Buena Vista Social Club, Misty In Roots, Rachid Taha, Mari Boine, Transglobal Under- ground, Hugh Masekela, Los De Abajo, Reem Kelani, Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita, The Hut People, The Beat, Artstidir, Mostar Sevdah Reunion, Varldens Band, Yat Kha and Courtney Pine to name but a few (like I said, diverse).
cy, how do they choose who to book? “We don’t have a checklist,” Jim tells me. “But I suppose, because we have grown to know our audience, I have a good idea what they might enjoy, as well as looking at what will bring in new audiences too. I have always been uncomfortable with the labelling of music into particular genres (although it has its place, I know, mainly in record shops!). It’s much more to do with getting a balance of high-quality acts that will make our audience feel both at home with but also challenged by, whilst at the same time trying to extend the festival’s appeal to a wider audience.”
He’d love to develop the non-musical elements of the festival, although with only limited space, this hasn’t been easy. “Bob’s Blundabus, our alternative comedy and happening space parked just outside the main venue, has helped a lot and our cook- ery stage works well in the main hall. But if anyone has a film bus they can loan, please let us know!”
What can we expect from this year’s 20th-anniversary fest? “Cake, hopefully! But seriously, we are asking a lot of our favourite acts to return (something we’ve tried to avoid previously). So, it’s going to be a heady mix of acts we’ve loved along- side acts we’ve always wanted to book… plus cake.”
In closing, I wondered what advice Jim would give himself if he could travel back twenty years? “Delegate. Take holidays. Go with your instincts re people and acts. And don’t try and buy your own venue!”
This year’s Musicport Festival takes place at Whitby Pavilion from 18th – 20th October.
musicportfestival.com
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