Although I come originally from a place in between two big cities, I have to confess to picking up a few metropolitan prejudices along the way.
When I heard that there was a festival in the Lancashire village of Bickerstaffe this weekend, a passing thought of locals with pies and pitchforks who dont like strangers in these parts did come to mind.
Well shame on me. As the name suggests 'Bickerstock' is an open minded and welcoming event, which must be encouraging for creative personalities in the village. http://www.bickerstock.org/index.html
Anyone who can play an instrument there seems to take part, adding to the community participation feel, while some really decent bands make up the line up.
Highlights on saturday for me was Jim Holmes, and Sunday 'Northern Daze', though that just perhaps highlights my own tastes, with a Levellers cover reminding me of hearing the original in another field 15 years ago now.
And speaking of Levellers, it seems that the village itself was a centre of dissent back in the day, with the Quakers having large local support in the 17th century. Who would have guessed that?
