Isle of Wight Folk & Blues Festival

Latest news

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NEXT Isle of Wight Folk & Blues Festival dates are currently under review until a significant sponsor can be found.

What else is on?

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Accomodation

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For full details on accommodation of all types in and around Ventnor, please contact the Isle of Wight Tourist Board hotline on 01983 813813 or see their website www.islandbreaks.co.uk for both accommodation information and how to get across the water to the Island and travel on it once here.

A few of our recommendations include the following but ask us for a few more here in Ventnor when you phone us to book tickets:

The Enchanted Manor:

A luxurious folkloric experience for a particularly special stay over the Folk & Blues Festival weekend. The Enchanted Manor is a totally unique Luxurious Magical Manor house set in stunning woodlands overlooking St Catherine’s Bay and rated 5 star A.A highly commended with a 5 star gold award as a Visit Britain luxury B&B retreat. Personal friendly service by owners Maggie and Ric who will ensure you have a perfect, tranquil and relaxing time in between enjoying the many events during the Isle of Wight folk festival that is just 10 minutes away by car. Please look at their website for details of special breaks. There is still some availability but get in quick for this unique way to do the Isle of Wight Folk & Blues Festival weekend.

Tel: 01983 730215. Website: www.enchantedmanor.co.uk

The Troubadour:

A friendly small hotel with café on the ground floor right in the centre of Ventnor. Tel 01983 856537 for info and bookings or see website www.troubadourhotel.co.uk in their special deals section for Folk & Blues Festival weekend Bed & Breakfast 2 or 3 night packages from £56 per person for 2 nights. SOLD OUT.

Ventnor Towers Hotel:

(Best Western)

Comfortable and friendly hotel with large gardens, tennis court and outdoor swimming pool, bar and restaurant with sea views set on the cliff tops on the Bonchurch outskirts of Ventnor. Walking distance to the main festival venues in town approx 15 minutes or by car only a few minutes. SOLD OUT.

Website link: www.bw-ventnortowershotel.co.uk Tel: 01983 852277

St Andrew’s Hotel:

Very friendly hotel with magnificent sea views in lovely residential area on Belgrave Road. Bed & Breakfast packages available all year round. Average price £ 28 per person per night but ask for details.

Website link: www.standrewsventnor.com. Tel: 01983 852680

East Dene:

(Allnatt Centres)

Fascinating building with the majority of its interiors untouched over the centuries. Former home of the poet Swinburne, East Dene is in Bonchurch at the Eastern end of Ventnor. It is a residential centre for school field trips and students mostly but also offers hostel style accommodation to groups attending the jazz or the folk & blues festivals here in Ventnor. So for budget hostel B&B accommodation in a fabulously located building of historic merit, tive them a call.

Website link: East Dene www.allnatt.co.uk Tel: 01983 852374

The Royal Hotel:

Isle of Wight’s premier 4 star hotel with 2AA Rosette restaurant. This hotel is quite often fully booked in September but if you fancy Folk & Blues in Ventnor but also want to stay in style, give them a call. Why not ask about their fabulous jazz weekend packages for next April at the same time – they’re always a sell out for the Isle of Wight Jazz Festival too !

REPORTING FULL ALREADY.

Website link: www.royalhoteliow.co.uk Tel: 01983 852186

The Hambrough:

Totally exclusive boutique hotel with outstanding restaurant well on its way to Michelin star. Overlooking Ventnor Haven just above the seafront, this small gem is right opposite the main venues for the Folk & Blues Festival. Jo and Justin and their team welcome every guest with their personal charm. Cleo Laine & John Dankworth were recent guests during the jazz festival. So for a totally spoilt weekend overlooking the Cascades and sea in Ventnor, take a peek at the website and talk to them.

Website link: www.thehambrough.com Tel: 01983 856333

The Leconfield:

“Where nothing is overlooked but the sea” this friendly hotel in Upper Bonchurch on the main road into Ventnor itself is a non-smoking hotel for adults with a restaurant that also welcomes non-residents. Open all year, they can organise early dining to suit your festival plans and like many hotels on the Island they can also co-ordinate Ferry Inclusive Packages.

Website link: www.leconfieldhotel.com

St Maur Hotel:

Victorian gentleman’s residence set in a beautiful sub-tropical garden with rosetted restaurant, this is a little gem of a family run hotel not far from Ventnor’s Botanical Gardens. For the sprightly, this provides the opportunity for a lovely coastal path morning walk to the festival music in the town centre. Short breaks inclusive of ferry travel can be arranged. Tel: 01983 852570. Website link: www.stmaur.co.uk . REPORTING FULL ALREADY.

Spyglass Inn:

Award winning pub on the Ventnor Esplanade headland with three self-catering appartments which, being right where the sea lashes the rocks, are quite possibly the most dramatic and romantically located rooms in the town. They fill months in advance, so if you want to cook your own breakfasts from the supplies they put into the appartment fridges, eat out and enjoy the festival at times to suit you, call them on 01983 855338.

Website link: www.thespyglass.com

THESE establishments are all sponsors or advertisers at various times of our festivals. Ventnor has a great range of self-catering to hotel accommodation which can be traced on the www.islandbreaks.co.uk Tourist Board website or may from time to time choose to advertise on this site with us.

CAMPING:

1. Appuldurcombe Gardens – Wroxall just on the outskirts of Ventnor, picturesque family holiday park set in 14 tranquil acres of unspoilt countryside. 100 spacious marked pitches, hard road access for tourers and tents. From £10.50. Tel: 01983 852597. Website link www.appuldurcombegardens.co.uk.

2. Rookley Country Park – Rookley on the outskirts of Ventnor set in 20 acres of landscaped grounds with high quality fishing lakes. Level touring pitches with 16amp electric & water hook ups, tenting area with some 6amp electric hook ups. From £8. Tel: 01983 721606. Website link: www.islandviewhols.co.uk.

3. Landguard Camping – Shanklin. Shanklin is on a regular No3 Bus route to and from Ventnor and is approx 15mins by car. Family park surrounded by trees in a rural setting for touring units and tents. Marked grass pitches, hard road access and electrical hook up. Ferry packages can be arranged on all routes. From £11.50. Tel: 01983 867028. Website link: www.landguard-camping.co.uk.

4. Ninham Country Holidays – between Shanklin & Sandown and on a bus route or 20mins by car to Ventnor. A beautiful country park with Morrisons supermarket nearby, coarse fishing, heated swimming/toddlers pool and a games room. From £12. Tel: 01983 864243. Website link: www.ninham-holidays.co.uk.

5. Southland Camping Park – Newchurch, nr. Sandown. The Winner of Calor Best Touring Park England, Southland is sheltered, well drained and ideal for quiet, peaceful family holidays with good access and generous pitches, all level and marked with electric hook up. Ferry packages can be arranged. From £10.20. Tel: 01983 865385. Website link: www.southland.co.uk.

Venues & eating out

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Press room

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For press information see below:

Patrons

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Merchandise

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Other events

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Downloads

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Advertise with us

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Links

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Line-up

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To be confirmed.

Sponsors

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The Isle of Wight Folk & Blues Festival Ltd may only be in its first year but now is a good time to link brand marketing to this festival, so we can grow the opportunities in partnership with our sponsors from the beginning. Setting out as sponsors to this festival and growing your brand as we grow ours is a great marketing and corporate responsiblity opportunity.

We have structures for levels of sponsorship which currently include the following and we welcome all opportunities to talk to potential sponsors in all categories:

Headline Sponsor: a company that sets its brand name into the name of our festival for maximum exposure. Value negotiable and remains confidential until/unless the sponsor wishes otherwise.

Premier Sponsors: a company that provides a level of sponsorship in either cash or in kind, or in a mixture of both cash & kind to a minimum value of £50,000.

Major Sponsors: a company that provides a level of sponsorship in either cash or in kind, or in a mixture of both cash & kind to a minimum value of £20,000.

Media Sponsors: media publication, radio or tv station that provides a consistent level of coverage in editorial content or advertising before and after the festival, without demanding any payment for advertising or other services. This all supports the profile raising of our events and contributes to exposure that will directly result in increased ticket sales for the event. (We are now seeking a national media profile and would welcome the chance to talk about this opportunity).

Festival sponsors: small companies or suppliers who wish for enhanced marketing exposure by being associated with a festival of this nature but operates on a smaller budget. The minimum ammount of festival sponsorship is in cash and is £2,500.

Festival suppliers, concessionaires, supporters and private patrons: Contributions and terms vary as negotiated.

Volunteers and helpers: This includes all those who steward voluntarily and all the staff involved in the various parts that need to fit together for a festival to put on a show.

Sponsors, co-promoters, sponsoring suppliers and supporters to the first Folk & Blues Festival included:

Also included are some of our Town Councillors, our Press Officer – Tim Snelling, our joint promotional cohorts at Vaguely Sunny Promotions – Vic King & Peter Turner and Sue & Alan at Craft Crazy , the crew at Widget Audio who really put in more than they ever ask for in payment, all our sponsors’ staff who put the backdrops to the festival up behind the scenes, the taxi drivers for staying up late on festival weekends, the bus drivers who keep going round in circles, the hoteliers and guest house owners keep welcoming visitors, the Coastal visitors centre and the IW Council events and car parking and market trading departments who ensure we have land to use, the Police and emergency services who make sure we are all safe and Security services who really do more than they are asked in the service of all of us. We are bound to forget someone but don’t forget that the stages have to be erected, the banners tied up, the fencing put in place, the toilets and bins delivered, the rubbish cleared up after, the pints of local Ventnor Brewery ales or Dorset’s Badger First Gold Ale drawn, the smiley faces keep smiling, the piano’s tuned, the Churches open, shop shelves stacked and hospitality outlets like the Spylass Inn and Mill Bay Inn ready to serve quickly…….. as for the fishermen who land the fish daily on our town’s fishhaven pier, thank them for the local crab and lobster and fresh sea fish in all weathers!

DAVID ANGEL – photographer – www.david-angel.com is the image photographer for the Jim Moray photo featured as the face of the 07 IOW Folk & Blues Festival on our fliers, adverts and posters. He has kindly granted permission to use his photo, the copyright of which remains with him at DavidandDavid.

Travel & Town Info

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TRAVEL To the Island and on to VENTNOR:

Ventnor is on the southern tip of the Isle of Wight, an Island made famous by the residency of HM Queen Victoria at Osbourne House and now renowned for its music festival heritage, its opportunity for outdoor activities and the dinosaur bones unearthed after millions of years as well as its local produce and yachting history. Ventnor has a sub-tropical climate and its seafront esplanade is regularly 5degrees hotter than anywhere else on the Island. As a Victorian town that grew up the hillsides off the crescent shaped bay, it still retains a degree of charm that Dickens described as being the closest experience to the Sicilian coastline that England posseses. Getting on a ferry to come over to the Isle of Wight is an adventure in itself similar to the excitement of going over to the continent but without the need for a passport ! To a certain degree too, the Isle of Wight and Ventnor in particular reflects the pace of time that the last 30 years has forgotten. Do come over and “chill” for a while !

Ferry travel:

We recommend our sponsors WIGHTLINK FERRIES for ferry travel from Portsmouth to Fishbourne or Lymington to Yarmouth on the greatest number of passages daily and through the night. Website link: www.wightlink.co.uk or Tel: 0870 582 7744. Wightlink Fast Cats also travel from Portsmouth, straight off the Portsmouth railway station, to Ryde Pier Head, where a train link that runs to Shanklin can be picked up.

For other routes see www.islandbreaks.co.uk, the Island’s tourist website.

Bus travel:

Southern Vectis run buses across the Island and the No3 service links Ryde-Newport-Sandown-Shanklin-Ventnor and return late into the night. See www.islandbuses.info. The main bus stop in Ventnor itself is outside Boots the Chemist on the High Street. See also www.iow.gov.uk and follow the links for Visting and then Travel.

Rail links:

The railway stops at Shanklin and does not come as far as Ventnor these days. However, there is a Wightbus link from Shanklin station to Ventnor at various times. For all IOW Council travel information go to www.iow.gov.uk and follow the links for Visting and then Travel.

Taxis:

If arriving on foot by Wightlink Fast Cat service at Ryde Pier Head, proceed to the other end of the Pier and there is a taxi rank there as well as a bus station. Taxi companies in Ventnor include:

B&B Taxis. Tel: 01983 855181

Charles-Niton Taxis. Tel: 01983 853697

Chiverton’s Taxis. Tel: 01983 853396

Randall’s Taxis. Tel: 01983 852269

Timey’s Taxis. Tel: 01983 853871

M&M Cars. Tel: 01983 854312

JEM Car service. Tel: 07864 725 555

Haven Taxis. Tel: 01983 885093

Please note that taxis in Ventnor are not easy to get late at night so it is best to book in advance. There is no central taxi rank in the town.

See also www.iow.gov.uk and follow the links for Visting and then Travel to find an Islandwide list of taxi companies.

Cycling: The Isle of Wight Folk & Blues Festival takes place over the final weekend of the Isle of Wight Cycling Festival so why not bring your bike to the Island early and benefit from both. See www.sunseaandcycling.com for details.

Equally, Ventnor holds its annual Fell Run this weekend. So there are lots of opportunities for to exercise and to enjoy the music afterwards !

Tickets

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Contact us

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Mail:
6 Pier Street
Ventnor
Isle of Wight
PO38 1ST

Telephone:
01983 856200
01983 856206

Email:
info@iowfolkblues.co.uk

philip@iowfolkblues.co.uk

geri@iowfolkblues.co.uk

Isle of Wight Folk & Blues Festival Ltd, Company number 6242349, registered office shown above.

To advertise on this site please contact us.