As at the harbinger of Summer our giant Jack in the Green certainly worked his magic on Saturday 13th May 2023. The day started overcast, cool and quiet but ended with blue skies, hot weather and huge, happy crowds. Once again Jack was constructed by the BoA Man Shed who did a great job and he had a new bigger face courtesy of Jan Windsor
Once again we had our biggest and best day ever, 19 venues, 35 dance groups (that’s well over 300 dancers and 100 musicians) dancing their hearts out, 40 market traders who all had a fantastic day’s trading, the popular return of Jenkins children’s funfair and lots of food and drink stalls who were rushed off their feet. New for 2023 were our buskers’ circuit in smaller pubs and cafes, the Folk Club Stage in St M’s Hall and the Choral & Classics Concert in Holy Trinity Church all three of which were a huge success. The two concert venues were packed all day with very appreciative audiences and some tremendous performances. Our unique Jill in the Green and her band The Jifflers (The Fidgets) brightened up everyone’s day.
Organising the GMF is a HUGE amount of work, just putting up the 500+ posters takes six days of driving, so it was immensely satisfying to see such huge audiences everywhere – another record attandance. Some comments on the day are below.
A huge thank you to our team of hard working volunteers who helped keep the day safe and happy. We couldn’t do this without their help so if you’d like to get involved with the GMF please contact us boagmf@icloud.com.
Photos
Colin Raynor (may be used but please always acknowledge his copyright)
Visitors’ Comments
“Today’s Green Man Festival was the greatest one-day festival this town has experienced in (25 years). It was an absolute triumph. From the organisation: the Victory field parking, the multiple sites, the stalls, the simultaneous events (I counted eight dance acts as I crossed the Town bridge), to the amazing vibe, the crowds, the jammed pubs, cafes and shops; it simply could not be bettered. I doff my hat ( or at least my flat cap) to the organisers and to each and every one of you. Bravo!”
“That was a fantastic festival, the best festival (I have) been to in years.”
“A Great day – FAB atmosphere.”
“Thanks for a truly brilliant festival … can’t find enough superlatives to describe it.You gave all of us a really relaxed day and we enjoyed ourselves among so many friendly people. The dancing and crafts were superb. So well organised.”
“I attended my first BOAGMF today and it was absolutely wonderful. Wish I had visited before … so special. It’s an amazing day full of colour, great music/ dance and lovely people.”
“There was a great atmosphere around the town.”
“The whole event had an overall joyful, friendly and welcoming feeling to it … really enjoyed the variety of dancers, performances and Jack in the Green ceremony. It was a new experience … loved the insight to British folklore.”
“What a truly fantastic event … definitely the best and most successful event in the calendar year for Bradford on Avon.”
“An amazingly organized festival! It was brilliant!”
“It really was wonderful and everyone I talked to loved it and said what a great atmosphere there was in the town, everyone smiling, everyone happy and those that lived here were proud to say so.”
“Very well done and many thanks for such a wonderful day on Saturday – you really did a fantastic job. The town was buzzing all over and you seemed to have organised an even bigger festival than before. Everyone was smiling and having a lovely time – we certainly enjoyed ourselves.“
“Loved the Samba band.”
Dancers’ & Musicians’ Comments
“Fantastic people, great venue, love to join you next year!!“
“It was MEGA!”
“We had a great time and hope to be able to come again next year.”
“We very much enjoyed dancing … and it was certainly worth the journey. It was brilliant that everything was close together.”
“Thank you for inviting us to such a fabulous day … we had wonderful time, and are all hoping we will be able to come back next year!”
“The team had a great day of dancing and it was lovely that the sun shone on us … most impressed and thoroughly enjoyed the day.”
“The side said that they really enjoyed the day and hope to be back next year.”
“A great weekend and we will definitely be going back next year! Thank you for putting on this awesome event and allowing us to be there with everyone.”
“Thanks for the amazing festival. Everyone is very satisfied and happy. We will come again next year.”
“Thank you for a well organised and fabulous day … and to see so many visitors …with happy faces was brilliant. We had great fun with our dancing groups at the different locations.”
“A wonderful day and thank you for all your hard work … fabulous day. Congratulations to you for a great event.”
“A fabulous day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Thank you for all your hard work – it is such a lovely place to dance and we enjoyed dancing with old friends and making new ones too! We particularly liked dancing every other slot which gave us time to watch and enjoy everything else that was going on, and have a good lunch!”
“A fabulous time and were warmly welcomed by one and all. The event generally was really well organised and it must’ve taken quite a lot of hours sorting out all the sides so that they danced with different disciplines. It was lovely to see all the different styles.”
Traders’ Comments
“I had the best single day’s trading since I started. Thew festival is awesome and Wessex is lucky to have you. I want a stall next year!”
“It was a great day, I was working non-stop! Thank you for having me back again this year. I definitely noticed an increase in visitors.”
“Thank you so much for such a wonderful day yesterday. It all sounded amazing from our stall! I had a brilliant day of trading and met so many people who were just the perfect “fit” for my masks and it was delightful to engage with them. Everyone was buzzing with it all as they dropped in. “
“My pitch location was brilliant! If you’d like to have me back again next year….”
“Bradford was buzzing with a lovely atmosphere, we had a very busy day”
“That was all rather marvellous- congratulations!”
“Absolutely loved it, great town, people, vibe.”
“Congratulations on a brilliant day, SO much happening (we) had a lot of interest and it all looked very well organised.”
“A great day yesterday. What an atmosphere in the town. An amazing event”.
