Washington Irving at Insider 2011

A few words from old favourites Washington Irving recorded during last years festival.

You can catch up with the latest developments for the Insider Olympiad on our new website, www.insiderfestival.com or over on our facebook page.

Insider Olympiad. 15th June 2012. Inshriach House.

Insider 2012 - The Olympiad.

Plans are now very much afoot for the Insider Olympiad and while we dont have much to announce yet or any tickets on sale you can get in the mood for it with the Backwoods Historical Society Olympic history unfolding over on our new blog...

The Backwoods Bonfire Party.

On the 5th November we are holding a Backwoods Bonfire party. Buses leave from the Old Bridge Inn any time after 5 and cost a tenner, when you get here our old friends the John Langan band will be playing and we have been lucky enough to find ourselves with the same gigantic Red Kite yurt that John got married in earlier this year, in the same spot. Then we head for the woods for a barbeque and mulled cider to hear three time festival champions Woodenbox with a Fistful of fivers, then some fireworks, Gojar on the decks until midnight and all back on the bus in time for last orders. You can read more about it and see if you can share a lift to the pub by looking at the facebook page.

Whats not to like about that?

The Backwoods Sporting Society.

The first outing for the Sporting / Educational wing of the Historical Society took place yesterday with trial by coracle. This coracle is an inside out cow stretched round a hazel frame. It even has a tail. There are plans for a coracle building weekend at Inshriach later this year, it then takes half a year for the coracle to cure thoroughly so by next summer (Insider time) the coracles and their builders will compete for aquatic glory in our abstract Historical Olympiad. Other categories will include wife carrying, small dog throwing and the Thistly Cross three legged relay race (start curing your wives now to ensure they are fully hardened). Drop us an email if you fancy coming on the coracle course.

The rules of the Sporting Society;

Inappropriate Historical dress must be worn at all times.
Slavish Historical accuracy is not required by the organisers.
Steam, sail, oars and alchemy are the only permissable means of propulsion.

There are no other rules (yet).

The Backwoods Historical Society.

We have long suspected that some mysterious movement lurked in these rolling hills.

Over the last three years we put it down to a sheer force of goodwill reflecting back off the sky around Insider time but during these few weeks a fuller truth has emerged. First there was a rustle of crinoline in the bushes, the faint waft of macassar on the breeze, the rare mornings of perfect symmetry in ones moustache or the swirl and undercurrent of the river pulling one round like a petticoat. It seemed the birch whispered the approval of our forefathers and the oaks the wise words of our ancestors. As this year's Insider wore on these ethereal bodies took shape and flesh and as they did the presence of this hitherto secretive movement became undeniable. From the ether they have been watching us, without our knowledge they have been helping us. They have put down their centuries old vow of secrecy and abstinence, risen from the sanctity of their slumber and chosen to emerge into the 21st century as our respectful and irreverent guide to the challenges of our past, our present and our future.

The Backwoods Historical Society has broken cover.

Endor and the State Broadcasters.

Grass Stains on the Lawn.

The Zoetrope

Here is the lovely Tom Stearns and the Zoetrope Collective, featuring members of Open Swimmer, Kettle of Kites, Tall Tales and Jo Mango playing the Kettle of Kites song, Bow, on the lawn.