Stripping back the gloss of Christmas

The commercial gloss of modern Christmas is peeled away in a show at Wingates Village Insitute on Saturday.

In his one-man Christmas show, accordion maestro John Kirkpatrick continues his quest into the bizarre traditional rituals found in the folklore and folk music of England at midwinter.

His show takes the shine away from the happy-go-lucky facade put on Christmas and reveals the life and death struggle behind many mysterious and murky goings-on in midwinter.

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John Kirkpatrick has been one of the most prominent figures on the English folk scene for many years. He is regarded as a particularly fine exponent of the button accordion, the Anglo concertina and the melodeon, and is frequently called upon as a mainstream session musician in fields of music quite outside the folk idiom.

John’s involvement with folk music began in the church youth club he attended as a boy in London, becoming one of Britain’s foremost folk performers, as accordion player, singer and songwriter. He has regularly played as a soloist and has been a member of a number of famous bands. He’s also been a morris dancer since he joined The Hammersmith Morris Men in 1959.

Tickets for the show, which starts at 7.30pm, are £8.50 adults, £7 concessions, £5 children, £20 family, from 01669 620512.