ManorCon 2010

Where will it be?

Halsway Manor, Crowcombe, Somerset.  Halsway is a beautiful old manor house, first mentioned in the Domesday book and later used as a hunting lodge for Cardinal Beaufort during the 1500’s. 

We will have exclusive use of all the Manor rooms and the extensive grounds during our stay there.    There are several function spaces to use, including a panelled library, and there are plenty of cosy seating areas for chatting and chilling out.  The grounds are gorgeous, and provide the ideal place for children to run around or for a quiet evening walk. 

The Manor is a residential folk centre – their main business is hosting residential holidays  and courses for folk enthusiasts.  They have assured us that they are very used to large amounts of strangely dressed people with guitars bursting into song whilst drinking lots of real ale or tea.    Suffice it to say that we should feel right at home here!

Please check out the website at http://www.halswaymanor.co.uk for directions, pictures and further details.

When will it be?

13th – 15th August, 2010.   We will start with an evening meal on Friday, and finish with High Tea on Sunday afternoon.  If you wish to stay over for an extra night on the Thursday or Sunday, that can be booked as part of your membership fee.  We will need at least 6 people to stay over for this option to be available, as otherwise Halsway cannot afford the staff to look after us.  It would be a little like Harry at Hogwarts over Christmas, I suspect!

(UPDATE: We now have more than 6 overnighters for both Thursday and Sunday, so these options are officially open..)

Costs?

This is where it gets a *little* more complicated than the average filkcon.  The costs and extras are listed below:

                                                                For en suite rooms: £140 per person
                                                                For non en suite rooms: £133 per person
                                                                Children (5-12) sharing with parents: 50% of full price
                                                                Children (13-16) sharing with parents: 75% of full price
                                                                Extra night before or after event: £42 en suite / £35 non en suite

All prices are FULL BOARD and inclusive of special diets, disability access and includes full and exclusive use of the entire Manor and all the grounds.  Kind of like a summer holiday with added filk!

Programme?

Because this isn’t the FilkCon, we’re hoping to make this feel a little different.  We’d like a laid-back, relaxed atmosphere for music to happen.  We don’t plan on bringing a big PA, which means that there will be no need for someone to run a desk.  There may be a tiny amount of sound re-enforcement for those with very quiet voices or electronic instruments, but that’s about it.

We’d like to run some workshops so that members of the community can share skills with each other, and everyone can go home having learned something new.  Whether it’s a craft (there’s enough of it going on in the back row of any given filkcon to merit ‘craft’ being a filkish activity, I’d say!), an instrument  or story-telling, it would be wonderful to see everyone sharing with one another.  Having been inspired  by some of our Canadian friends, it would be great to have some songwriting exercises at some point, too...

We would welcome anyone who would like to perform a set in an acoustic setting, and it seems likely that unless someone sits on Tim, we may have some kind of impromptu Ceilidh as well...

Halsway Manor can accommodate up to 62 people in various room settings.  Family rooms are available, as are some singles.  There is no premium or supplement charged on single or family rooms.  If we get a lot of interest, we may need to offer roomsharing as an option.  If you would like to attend, but stay in alternative accommodation, there is a day rate of £30 which includes all meals except breakfast.  THERE IS A BOOKING CUT-OFF OF 2ND JULY!!!!  We MUST have payment by then to secure your place.

If you would like to change your booking (adding extra nights etc.), we can do this right up until 2nd July.

UPDATE: As we are now getting close to the end of the booking period, you can also email me all this information (I am happy to do bank transfers as well!) at awalker at walkerwork dot co dot uk.