Celebrate William Barnes alongside a Feast of Dorset Fayre!
Join The Ridgeway Singers & Band for Dorset’s own celebration of a remarkable poet
Whilst up and down the country, suppers take place each year to mark the birthday of Robert Burns, since 2017 Artsreach and The Ridgeway Singers & Band have instead celebrated the works of Dorset’s own dialect poet, William Barnes, through music, song and poetry in ‘Tea with William Barnes’.
William Barnes relished the country dances, folksongs, and carols of Dorset and often wrote about community celebrations, where music was a key part of the proceedings, capturing the sound of the Dorset speech in an artistic and imaginative way. Undoubtedly the greatest of the English dialect poets, Barnes was also, as Thomas Hardy wrote, ‘probably the most interesting link between present and past forms of rural life that England possessed’.
Born in Bagber, in the Blackmore Vale, in 1801, William Barnes attended school in Sturminster Newton. In later life he was an innovative schoolmaster with a knowledge of over seventy languages, the author of over thirty books in prose, an artist, engraver, musician, folklorist, inventor, and parish priest.
Now a popular annual fixture in the Artsreach calendar, this year’s takes place at Sturminster Newton Exchange at 3pm on Sunday 25 February.
Led by Tim Laycock and Phil Humphries, The Ridgeway Singers and Band will be joined by guests from The William Barnes Society to celebrate the sounds and stories of old Dorset. They will be performing traditional songs collected across the county, playing dance tunes from the repertoire of Blackmore Vale fiddler Benjamin Rose, and reciting some of the poems that keep alive the rich dialect of Dorset. Tickets include a Dorset Cream tea and are available from The Exchange (01258 475137) or online at www.artsreach.co.uk
By partnering with Pageant Productions to live stream the event, Dorset’s touring arts charity, Artsreach, also hopes to enable those who are unable to attend in person to join in from the comfort of their own homes. Find out more and register for a ‘Pay What You Can’ e-ticket at artsreach.co.uk
For the first time, Artsreach is also delighted to be partnering with Dorset Food & Drink to host a mini pop-up producers and makers market on the day, offering the chance to try some famous local produce or discover something brand new made in Dorset! The market is open to the general public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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