Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival
DatesLast weekend of February or first weekend of March
Location(s)Changes every year
Years active1951-present (2023)
Organised byStudent folk societies

The Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival (IVFDF) is the longest running folk festival in the United Kingdom, having been hosted from 1951 to the present day (2022).[1]

It differs from most other festivals in two respects: it moves location every year, and it is hosted and organised by student folk societies. Ex-students and folk music enthusiasts gather at the host university for a weekend of music, dance, and song. The festival is always run in either the last weekend in February or the first weekend in March. The festival at Exeter University in 2009 was attended by around 1169 different ticket holders — the most of any IVFDF up to that time, as the previous record was just over 1000 attendees at the IVFDF in Manchester in 1986.[2]

The festival was held online in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hosted by people based in Bristol. The most recent festival was held in Exeter in 2023.

Mascots

Society mascots are considered to be a large part of the festival. Mascot Ransoming is now banned at IVFDF after several people sustained injuries at one festival. While Mascot Ransoming has been banned, mascot intentional misplacement is prevalent at IVFDFs.

Notable mascots
Name Species University Organization
As Yet & Unnames Penguins Sheffield
Cuthbert Snake Cambridge The Round (Cambridge English and Contra dance society)
Don Elephant Warwick
Duncan Highland Cow Durham
Floyd Pig Exeter
Hamish Thistle Cambridge Strathspey & Reel Club
Nessie Loch Ness Monster Edinburgh
Rustle Ceilidh Monster
Duck Lancaster
Goose York

History

The first festival was held in 1951 under the name "Universities' Folk Dancing Festival", hosted in the city of Leeds.[3] The festival was jointly organised by the Hull University College Folk Dance Society and the Leeds University Scottish Dance Society, however Leeds was chosen over Hull as the location for the festival due to its superior accessibility and facilities at the time.[4] The following 2 festivals were hosted under this name before the term Inter-Varsity was used for the 1954 festival hosted in Edinburgh.[5]

Initially the primary activity at the festival was the "Display Ceilidh", during which the University groups in attendance would take turns to perform dances as a demonstration to the other groups. The dances presented could be newly choreographed or traditional, and could be chosen to raise awareness of a particular folk style or show the skill of the group.[6][7] In some early festivals a dance was also held in the evening after the Display Ceilidh, and by the 1959 festival this had been expanded to two evening dances.[8]

The festival has never been held in the same host city two years consecutively, with 22 different cities hosting thus far. The most frequent hosts have been Sheffield and Exeter, totalling 10 and 8 festivals respectively.

Top 10 most frequent IVDF host cities.
Host city Number of festivals hosted Last festival hosted
Sheffield 10 2022
Exeter 8 2023
Edinburgh 7 2019
Nottingham 6 2020
Manchester 5 1994
Cambridge 4 2017
Bristol 3 2021
Durham 3 2010
Glasgow 3 2000
Newcastle 3 1990


All IVFDF events

All IVDF events. Cities in bold are first-time hosts.
Year Host city Host university Dates Festival website Visitors Events/performers Notes
1951 Leeds Leeds 17 February[9] Was known as Universities' Folk Dancing Festival. Jointly organised by the Hull University College Folk Dance Society and the Leeds University Scottish Dance Society, however Leeds was chosen over Hull as the location for the festival due to its superior accessibility and facilities at the time.
1952 Newcastle
1953 Sheffield
1954 Edinburgh 13 February [10] 480 visitors[10] First festival to use the IVFDF name.
1955 Birmingham 12 February[11] 600[11]
1956 Manchester
1957 Bristol 16 February[12] Featured a Morris Tour
1958 London
1959 Nottingham 31 January[8] 750[8]
1960 Glasgow 13 February
1961 Leeds 11 February
1962 Manchester 17 February
1963 London 2 February
1964 Sheffield 8 February
1965 Newcastle 20 February
1966 Liverpool 19 February[13]
1967 Exeter 25 February
1968 Hull 2 March[14] 800[14]
1969 Glasgow Strathclyde, a sub-university of Glasgow 8 February
1970 Reading 13 - 14 February[15] 600[15] Extended to a 2-day festival as a ceilidh was arranged for those who were staying overnight on Friday.
1971 Nottingham 6 February
1972 Durham 12 February
1973 Liverpool 3 February [16]
1974 Oxford
1975 London 22 February
1976 Edinburgh
1977 Manchester
1978 Southampton
1979 East Anglia
1980 Durham
1981 Leeds
1982 Reading
1983 Nottingham
1984 Sheffield
1985 Southampton
1986 Manchester 28 February[17]
1987 Reading 27 February - 1 March[18] 200[18]
1988 Edinburgh
1989 Exeter
1990 Newcastle
1991 Nottingham
1992 East Anglia
1993 Sheffield
1994 Manchester
1995 Exeter
1996 Edinburgh
1997 Cambridge Anglia Polytechnic University 28 February - 2 March[19] 800[20] Held in Anglia Polytechnic University and venues around the city.
1998 Sheffield
1999 Exeter
2000 Glasgow
2001 Cambridge
2002 St. Andrews
2003 Sheffield
2004 Exeter
2005 Norwich 25 - 27 February[21]
2006 Cambridge Cambridge University 24 – 26 February 1000+ Many dance teams, including Stone the Crows, Black Swan Rapper, and Pig Dyke Molly. The usual complement of university-based teams from all over the country. Organised by a committee made up of students and ex-students belonging to the universities' three folk orientated societies (Gog Magog Molly, The Round and The Strathspey, and Reel Society).

Because Cambridge does not have a single large students union building, they hired a local school to accommodate the attendees. Workshops were held in various rooms, including the gym and sports hall, sessions were held in the library and common room, and people slept in the maths classrooms.

2007 Edinburgh Edinburgh University 2-4 March Bands included Peeping Tom and John Dipper. Various demonstration dances, including Scottish and a dance to the soundtrack of The Sound of Music. Diverse workshops.
2008 Sheffield 29 February - 2 March 1000+[22] Bands and artists appearing were Glory Strokes (Pete Rees), Vertical Expression (Andrew Swaine), The Gloworms (Nick Walden), Janiver (formed from previous Jabadaw members), and Triple Scotch. There was also a concert with Crucible, Spiers & Boden.
2009 Exeter 27 February-1 March Festival website 1169 (most of any IVFDF) The line-up included Kate Rusby, The Demon Barbers, and Jackie Oates also appeared with Jim Causley. Main ceilidhs were provided by The Committee Band and Stomp with over 40 workshops taking place over the weekend, as well as the Survivor's Ceilidh. All events were back on one site, including sleeping, food and all the late night sessions.
2010 Durham Durham university 5-7 March The line-up included Eliza Carthy and Aidan Curran, Whapweasel and Martyn Harvey, Vertical Expression, Fidola, alongside many workshops and a Morris Tour.
2011 Bristol
2012 Aberdeen 2 - 4 March[23]
2013 Sheffield
2014 Edinburgh
2015 Exeter Held in the 'new buildings' of the University of Exeter and the Great Hall.
2016 Warwick Festival website Notably used Coventry Cathedral as a dance venue.
2017 Cambridge Festival website
2018 Sheffield Sheffield University 23 - 25 February[24] Festival website The line-up included Melrose Quintet, Buddy System, Steamchicken, Emily and the Simons, and Scottish Measure. First year the festival went completely gender free for all its calling and workshops.
2019 Edinburgh Edinburgh University 1 - 3 March[25] Festival website The line-up included Hoik, The Night Before, Monkey Box, No&Mi, An Conasg, Hekety, Science Ceilidh, Matthew Maclennan Dance Band, Naragonia, and Point Five.
2020 Nottingham Festival website Contrasaurus, Bearded Dragons, and several others.
2021 Bristol (though online) Organised by Bristol people; held online via Minecraft, Zoom and Discord due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2022 Sheffield 25 - 27 February[26] Festival website 600[27]
2023 Exeter

ICBINI

I can't believe it's not IVFDF (ICBINI) is a smaller annual spin-off festival held in November. The first ICBINI was held at Exeter in 2002.[28] ICBINI is like the main festival in many respects, in that it is held at a different location each year and hosted by student folk societies; however, if a suitable host cannot be found, a festival is not held that year. The activities are similar to those at IVFDF.

ICBINI events
Year Location Festival? Additional
2002 Exeter[28] First ICBINI.
2003 Bristol [29]
2011 Exeter
2012 Warwick
2014 Warwick Warwick Festival Announcement
2015 Lancaster
2016 Exeter Exeter Festival Announcement
2017 Bristol
2018 N/A None
2019 York
2020 N/A None Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ↑ "IVFDF". Ivfdf.org. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "The Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival 2009 - eFestivals.co.uk". www.efestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  3. ↑ Schofield, Derek (2016). "Norman Peacock (1925–2015)". Folklore. 127: 107–109. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  4. ↑ "Hull idea". Hull Daily Mail. No. 20359. 22 February 1951. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  5. ↑ "Early IVFDF Involvement". The Round. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "Folk dancing". Hull Daily Mail. No. 20357. 20 February 1951. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "Edinburgh will see new dance". Aberdeen Evening Express. No. 23664. 11 February 1954. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 "750 at city dance festival". Nottingham Evening News. No. 22796. 2 February 1959. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "Folk dance festival". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. No. 32282. 19 February 1951. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  10. 1 2 "Student Folk-Dancers Gather in Edinburgh". Edinburgh Evening News. No. 25224. 9 February 1954. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Dancing down the festival line". Birmingham Weekly Mercury. No. 1884. 13 February 1955. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  12. ↑ "Sword team at Bristol folk dance festival". Bristol Evening Post. No. 7703. 18 February 1957. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "What's on". Liverpool Daily Post. No. 34417. 19 February 1966. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  14. 1 2 "Hull idea comes home at last". Hull Daily Mail. No. 25614. 4 March 1968. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  15. 1 2 Linton, Mitchell (12 February 1970). "Folk dancers to step out in Reading". Reading Evening Post. No. 1370. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  16. ↑ "Varsitites in dance festival". Liverpool Echo. No. 28950. 5 February 1973. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  17. ↑ "What's on today". Middleton Guardian. No. 5904. 28 February 1986. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  18. 1 2 "Dancers descend on area". Reading Evening Post. No. 5803. 2 March 1987. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  19. ↑ "City in step for feast of folk dancing". Cambridge Daily News. 27 February 1997. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  20. ↑ "Varsity Morris Men invade city streets". Cambridge Weekly News. 12 March 1997. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  21. ↑ "Inter-Varsity Folk Dance Festival". Eastern Daily Press. 25 February 2005. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  22. ↑ "BBC - Radio 2 - Folk and Acoustic". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  23. ↑ "Dancers descend on Aberdeen". Aberdeen University. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  24. ↑ "PICTURES: Sheffield welcomes UK's longest running folk dance festival". The Star. 24 February 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  25. ↑ Campbell, Fiona (23 February 2019). "UK's longest-running folk dance festival in Edinburgh for 2019". All Media Scotland. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  26. ↑ "Folk dance festival celebrates ancient tradition". Sheffield Tribune. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  27. ↑ "Supporting the return to dancing in person". English Folk Dance and Song Society. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  28. 1 2 "University of Bristol Union : Folk Club : ICBINI". Archived from the original on 6 December 2003.
  29. ↑ "History 2010 - 2019 - IVFDF". Ivfdf.org. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
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