Raising the Roots is an ongoing Folk Education project which can began at Loughborough Town Hall in 2006. In the week leading up to the Folk Festival in October around 250 children from 9 partner schools took part in workshops ranging from storytelling, singing to traditional dance. Some went on to perform in the Town Hall curtain-raiser event in the market square on Friday 13th October and some even performed on the main stage on Saturday 14th.
The lucky schools were Booth Wood Primary School, Church Hill Infant School, Hall Orchard Primary School, St Mary’s, Seagrave Village Primary School, Mountfields Lodge Primary School, The Merton Primary School, Rothley Church of England Primary School, Burton on the Wolds Primary School and Hathern Primary School
Festival Manager Joan Crump was really keen to encourage local schools to get involved. ‘People, especially kids, can’t access their own folk heritage unless it’s presented in exciting and accessible formats. That’s a big part of what we’re trying to do with Raising the Roots, our education programme, which aims to bring folk into schools in Charnwood.’The education draws from a variety of English traditions. There was some breathtaking Yorkshire Longsword dancing with Ryburn 3 Step, enchanting storytelling and playground games with Pete Coe and heart-stopping rapper sword and clog dance with the electric Demon Barbers.
Future projects include workshops with English/Gambian ceilidh band Boka Halat and a return by the Demon Barber Road Show. This work will continue with primary schools in 2007, but the venue hope to be able to extend their outreach work to different age groups in the future.
