Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival

The Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival (IVFDF) is the longest running folk festival in the United Kingdom.[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. However it attracts ex-students and folk music enthusiasts, who descend on the host university for a weekend of music, dance, song and sleep deprivation. 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 — one of the most of any IVFDF up to that time (the previous record was just over 1000 attendees at the IVFDF in Manchester in 1986).

It is scheduled to be held in Cambridge in 2017[2]

History

The festival started in 1951 at the University of Leeds. Since then it has been roaming UK universities from the north (the University of Aberdeen in Scotland) to the south (the University of Exeter in Devon):

Mascots

Society mascots are considered by some to be a large part of the festival, and those which can be seen being carried around include Cuthbert (Snake, The Round (Cambridge English and Contra dance society)), Hamish (Thistle, Cambridge University Strathspey & Reel Club), Nessie (Loch Ness Monster, Edinburgh), Floyd (Pig, Exeter), Rustle (Ceilidh Monster, Sheffield) and Don (Elephant, Warwick). Mascot ransoming is now banned at IVFDF after several people sustained injuries at one festival.

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References

External links

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