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 Festival Report

It was a fantastic weekend in October 2010 with lovely weather to mark the occasion of 30 years of residential home organ and keyboard festivals in the UK.

The first one took place in December 1980 at Pontin's Barton Hall, Torquay, which was then the flagship of Pontin's holiday empire.   At the time there were around thirty makes of home electronic organs and single manual keyboards were a rarity.

At the 2010 event the number of manufacturers could almost be counted on one hand and single manual keyboards had developed to the point were they could be put together to make an organ set up.

Many of the guests said they had been to most, if not all, of Cled Griffin's events - real loyal enthusiasts.   The final Sand Bay festival was really fantastic, so they said, and their applause at the end endorsed the fact.

The event also marked Jean Martyn's thirty years in show business and she reminded the audience of how she dressed up at one of the fancy dress ball's at Pontin's Barton Hall Home Electronic Organ Festivals.

Cled Griffin thanked everyone for making it a weekend to remember.   He said he had achieved his ambition of producing 30 years of festivals, giving enthusiasts and players opportunities of meeting each other in a way that could not be done at organ societies.

 Future events will be produced in conjunction with Cled's son, Ian, on a scale to match a changing technological scene that will include many innovative features.   The introduction of computer software to aid playing and the downloading of music from the Internet points to new direction that will appeal to those who want to move forward with their playing ability.