Oxford Fiddle Group in Leiden, Netherlands

Leiden, Netherlands is twinned with Oxford and the Oxford Fiddle Group went to Leiden 26-30 August 2010 primarily to take perform in the Rapenburg Festival. However, we did seven performances in four days ranging from bars and music venues to a performance for a group of Special Needs youngsters.

We stayed at the picturesque Stochemhoeve Campsite in the Cronesteyn Park on the edge of the city. Individuals in the group had varying levels of accommodation at the site - staying in the house, a chalet, trekking hut, tent etc. Mine was definitely the lowest level and can be seen next to the trekking hut below where group members are getting ready for breakfast. It's the orange dot under the gazebo needed for rain protection.

We played in three bars in various parts of the city as performances or sessions including The North End English Bar.

On the Friday evening we performed at the Q-bus Music Venue. The photo above and the two below show the performance.

We played twice on the streets around the Leiden canals. The two photos above show us playing outside the Town Hall.

The highlight of the weekend was taking part in the Rapenburg Festival - playing on a huge stage on a barge on the canal. The audience was made up of people on either side of the canal and people in various boats. There was even a wedding reception boat listening! Although there was plenty of rain during our stay, the sun came out for our Rapenburg Concert performance and there were even people dancing on the canal side.

Our hosts from Leiden Twinning Association gave us a wonderful time and the people of Leiden were friendly and welcoming. Our fiddle music from The British Isles and North America went down really well wherever we played and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves despite the weather and my tent!