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Contact details
The Board of Trustees


Tradition
is
Alive,
Growing
and
Evolving

Your 1st port of call for folk/roots information in South East England

SOUTH EAST FOLK ARTS NETWORK

Registered Charity in England and Wales No: 1111883. Company No. 5114495 Reg. in Cardiff

Affiliated to
EFDSS' 75th Anniversary Award 2007
Part of the RIO group (Regional Infrastructure Organisations for the South East)
Member of: VAN (Voluntary Arts England's network)
RAISE (Regional Acton and Invlolvement South East)

...
Be part
of it.

About SEFAN

Who we are, what we do and why we do it
Who We are What We do How We do it Why We do it

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"Tradition is the passing on of fire and not the worship
of ashes"
Gustav Mahler



"Folk art and vernacular culture are things we should all love and know about"

Jeremy Deller Turner Prize winner 2004

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Firstly ... What SEFAN is ...
The role of the South East Folk Arts Network is that of an enabler: offering an information, advisory, co-ordinating and networking service for the traditional arts in the region.

We were granted full CHARITY STATUS in November 2005

Covering the counties of
Buckinghamshire
East Sussex
Hampshire
Isle of Wight
Kent
Oxfordshire
Surrey
West Sussex
West Berkshire
and NOW expanding to cover close-bordering neighbours incl. LONDON

Founded in 2001under the guidance and support of South East Arts
(Surrey Kent,Sussex) SEFAN now covers the whole of the re-organised Arts Council England, South East region

Map of England showing SEFAN regionlarger map

NOW
expanding to cover
close-bordering neighbours
incl. LONDON


Meltdown Ceilidh

Folk tradition and folk practice of the South East are vibrant and varied. The area is a rich patchwork of festivals, concerts, workshops, dances, music sessions, clubs and - above all - involvement.

The traditional arts are performed and taught in venues as diverse as arts centres, clubs, public houses, schools, theatres, community centres, prisons, day centres for the elderly and in public places.

All the individual participants under the SEFAN umbrella, together with SEFAN itself, promote aspects of the traditional performing arts in the community.
It is SEFAN's aim to encourage and assist local communities to raise awareness and involvement in traditional music, drama, storytelling, songs and dance.


Thanks to Greg Draven
@
Eastbourne Lammas Festival'06

thanks to Broken Ankles @ Towersey 2005
Partipation in the Network is by a yearly subscription to support core administration costs of the Charity and our
Risk & Start-Up Grants whenever funds allow.

Benefits to Subscribers are outlined below.
or
Go to the full, extended list of
benefits and services to subscribers


Working to keep traditional arts vibrant and relevant for this generation
and to preserve them for the next

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We do not change a tradition,
we add to it"

Next...why we're here ...
The South East Folk Arts Network believes that
  • Folk Arts foster community spirit in a unique way because everybody can participate; young and old, skilled and unskilled, knowledgeable and naive.
  • Traditional Arts remain an essential part of contemporary life; so it is important to the folk process that it continually revives, rediscovers and renews itself.
  • Involvement in traditional arts encourages local communities to:
    research, collect, perform and appreciate local traditions of song, music, dance and storytelling; together with those traditions brought by communities who have settled here

Who we are — the Network Folk currently includes:
Festivals Development Agencies Folk Clubs
Singers Story Tellers Folk Dance Clubs
Promoters Bands Ceilidhs
Musicians Writers Morris Sides
Dancers Poets Dance Teams
Performance Groups Professional Arts Companies Educators / Schools
Researchers Collectors Enthusiasts

"changed my preconceptions about Folk Music"

Maria Pattison
Director
Theatre and Beyond

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What SEFAN does ...
Specifically, it serves to:
  • act as an advocate for the traditional arts in the South East
  • raise the national profile of SE based performers and events
  • raise the image of the traditional performing arts within the SE and the country as a whole
  • encourage a folk content in general arts and community events and celebrations
  • work towards increasing audiences and participation in the traditional performing arts, particularly amongst the Young
  • work in partnership with local folk and traditional arts organisers and artists, with schools and other educational establishments, voluntary and community organisations, the media, local authorities and others
  • be inclusive of the traditions and music of communities who have settled here
  • provide networking opportunities under the SEFAN umberella
  • provide funding advice and exchange of ideas under the SEFAN umberella
  • provide training workshops and seminars and publish associated literature
  • provide Subscriber Only services to the Network
  • operate as a 'first port of call' to provide information and contacts to the General Public

"Traditional music ... some of the best is still to come"

The English
Acoustic
Collective

SEFAN Services include ...

  • Public Information Services are provided through this web site as well as a weekly E-digest of upcoming performances, festivals and events. Send an email to admin@sefan.org.uk to be put on the (non-member's) E-Digest list.
  • SEFAN provides Information and Help to the General Public for specific enquires via telephone and email.
  • Audience Development is currently through the provision of information on performances, clubs, and regular events and links to outside listings sites.
    See the Regular Listings and What's On pages.
    We provide a single point of entry for the public looking for folk/roots activity in the SE.
  • Subscriber Only Services include
    • regular email bulletins to the Network to disseminate time sensitive alerts on funding opportunities, performance opportunities, announcements, FolkArts England bulletins, selected extracts from the Arts and Voluntary sector eDigests and magazines, and other information exchange that concerns the folk/roots sector.
    • access to the SEFAN resource library of publications. Subscribers can request copies of our information sheets, all of which are listed in our online library list.
    • SEFAN provides one-to-one support on grant applications, funding queries etc.
    • We also run occasional training days, conferences and meetings.
Go to the full, extended list of benefits and services to subscribers

How SEFAN works ...

Advice and information:
  • practical advice on funding sources and how to apply
  • individual surgery session on specific funding applications
  • resource library and information sheets
  • on-line information pages
  • some Network Only (not public domain) information resources
  • regular Network email bulletins on opportunities and developments in Folk and the Arts.
  • regular Network email bulletins of gig/workshop announcements.
  • regular Public email service of gig/workshop announcements
  • occasional region-wide and local meetings with SEFAN as organiser

Networking within the folk community:

  • to keep Subscribers abreast of developments
  • to allow information exchange
  • to stimulate collaborations

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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU GET AS BENEFITS AND JOIN THE NETWORK
See Subscription rates and member benefits
Go to APPLICATION FORM .pdf version Word.doc version

Adobe Reader® lets you view, navigate and print
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files for free:
Photographs on this site by kind permission of the following:
Mick Duff Photographer TAPS Kala Photographics / Ditchling Morris
Edward Kingscote Trads Greg Draven / Eastbourne Lammas Festival'
Black Horse Festival Stepback Hastings Jack in the Green
Lizzie Lyons
Site designed and maintained by Penny Allen:
admin@sefan.org.uk

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