Happy Tenth Anniversary Buckle and Boots!

Since 2016 there’s been nine actual festivals and one that didn’t involve tents and queuing for showers – yes, that one affected by “the C Word!”!  Many of you will have been counting on your fingers this weekend to check how many you’ve been to – and we did the same whilst looking around to see what’s new!

A boat! - An English sparkling wine (Harlot) boat to be accurate that if you didn’t come to say hi, it serves different types of spritz.  Sorry no Hawkstone, I have asked that the umbrella is changed for next year, but there is plenty of Hawkstone everywhere else – as Jeremy Clarkson would say “The most Hawkstone taps...in the world”

The big deck chair, anniversary buckles (thanks Bro-Kin Strings) and embossed belts (The Lodge) and football jerseys together with other merchandise, including the return of handled cups.

What have we lost?

Dark fruits, frozen cocktails and the suicidal wasps, the old portacabins, the tin roof bar with the dodgy floor …

There is still a love/hate relationship with chairs, confusion over tokens, Alan Finlan popping up to play music anywhere and everywhere, Man BBQ  (after their glow up) and other great food. Grainne and her violin and the rest of the Country Orchestra. Straw sticking to bums and the signs to pose by.

We weren’t at the farm in 2016, but the next year we both came as day visitors – albeit on separate days.  By 2018, having got to know Karl and Laura, we were asked to come to support the bar (because of our previous experience in hospitality) – and it was just one bar then! It’s hard to forget the bar on the tilt, tall people at one end and shorter people at the other, but what some one of you might not have realised (unless you listened in one Monday morning) that it was still a cow shed, and they had to be moved and the area cleaned for the festival.

Since that year we’ve supported every “live” festival - in that time, like most of you we’ve witnessed standout moments on stage (and hidden a few offstage moments too) career defining main stage performances, barn storming ones on Paddock Stage. We’ve camped, slept on sofas, hunted for morning coffee, experienced problems with the showers just like you, alongside listening to the music and making some great friends.  We’ve laughed and cried alongside you.

We have also rolled beer barrels, carried hay bales, found UK phone chargers for American performers, arranged 13 late night burgers for Brett Kissel and his crew, found and applied sun cream, located replacement guitars and replacement violin bows!  Basically, we’ve always got stuck in and done what needs doing to help you have the best experience.

We’ve made the Paddock Stage our home for seven festivals, watching the festival grow alongside the artists, who have gone from solo acoustic sets to headline slots , been on hand to hype them up before their show, find them water and meet their other drinking needs and give a reassuring hug afterwards, helping them find the green room and escorting to meet and greet.

 

We’ve shared “you had to be there” moments – The Songwriters round that was just too good to end (so we kind of didn’t!), the power blowing during Sunday Service (Jeremy McComb), a guitar kicked across the stage (Jeremy again) T Shirts being swapped on stage and of course Kezia Gill writing “I’m Here” overnight, which we helped turn into a movement.

 

Buckle and Boots has thrived because of the genuine community feel, it embraces the country family. It doesn’t matter if you attend alone or bring the whole family (dogs most definitely included), whether it’s your 1^st time or the 10^th, you will make friends and be able to mingle with the artists. The homely feel starts with the Hancocks (and Robinsons) who share their home with us, the big volunteer community that keeps the bars open, the beautiful setting (in Etherow County Park) and the chilled atmosphere.  Not forgetting Big Joe who many will know keeps everything working and the water and toilets flowing., and Gavin & Christine Chittick who take time out from their own events to support the festival.

Thanks to the Hancocks and Gary Quinn, the festival offers the opportunity to see stripped back talent in the writer’s rounds and the Sunday Service but also continues to focus on emerging artists both home-grown and from all over the world - Australia, Canada and the US to name a few - resulting in the opportunity for people to discover new favourites.

These days Buckle and Boots goes on tour, with Switzerland being the latest location to benefit from all that has been learnt. We wish Laura luck and hope that no artists or guitars are lost and this trip avoids any ambulances (Australian trip for those are inquisitive).

 

Buckle and Boots was our first taste of festival trials and tribulations and since then we have been able to support Millport CMF and Pure Country Music and Dance. We have eaten, drunk and shopped alongside you, whether you be an attendee, a trader, an artist, paid staff or volunteer. 

You won’t see our name on the line up, but we’re proud of our contribution to the ten years and to the wider UK Country scene.

Until next time.