The year is 1973, Woodstock, the festival that gave a voice and its name to a whole generation, is already 4 years gone. Three of its most famous children, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix already passed away, the darker side of a free lifestyle. The biggest story in the news is that a peace treaty finally ends the Vietnam war, giving the 60's peace protesters their big victory. In the wake of the 60's protests, a local protest against underground atom bomb trails in Amchitka, Alaska is turning into a nature protection group called Greenpeace . In the Middle East the conflict between Egypt, Syria and Israel escalates into the Yom Kippur war. The Egyptian-Syrian coalition is supported by some North African countries, Israel by the West. As a result the main oil-producing countries call out an oil embargo against the US, The Netherlands, Canada, the UK and Japan. Which means oil shortages. In Holland cars are not allowed to drive on Sundays. Can you imagine? 1973, just another year in a crazy world that is changing fast.
In the folk world things are also changing. In America the revival of folk music, that started as acoustic protest songs from artists like
Woody Gutrie, Simon and Garfunkel, or
Joan Baez and her protégé
Bob Dylan , is starting to grow into folk rock, with
The Grateful Dead ,
Buffalo Springfield and of course
Neil Young being a few of the great names in that scene. In England bands like
Fairport convention ,
Planxty and
Steeleye Span are doing the same thing and are laying the foundations for what will become the Celtic rock. In France
Alan Stivell is modernising and popularising traditional folk music from Brittany, an influence that can still be felt to this day. (Think of
Manau's big 90's hit
La Tribu de dana of the 90's or more recently the lovely pop folk CD
Bretagne by famous French singer
Nolwenn Leroy 
Right amongst all these changes, two things happen that will be significant for the future. One a bit more significant than the other. First of all a little babyboy called Alexander Sealgaire is born May 1973. A small footnote for mankind, a huge step for CeltCast, because he is one of the two founding fathers of this station. Secondly a young Irish band releases their first album, challenging the general opinion that music should be in English, rather
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Fantasy Forest is a brand new festival, organised by a very experienced group of people, and it will introduce its concept for the first time to England this year! At a gorgeous location, Sudeley Castle in the Cotswolds, they will bring amazing bands to their visitors, like Harmony Glen, PerKelt, The Dolmen and Greenrose Faire. They will organise a market filled with merchants that will cater to all fantasy wishes, and they will even host a costume competition to give people the chance to show off their amazing creations. And that isn't even the whole of it! It will also be CeltCast's first official venture into the UK! In the coming time we will bring you updates on Fantasy Forest, but right now we are starting with an in-depth interview. We had the honour to speak to Martin about organising a festival, about bringing something like this to an area that doesn't have any experience with it yet. About which bands to book, and how to go about finding a location. And about so much more. If you've ever been to a fantasy festival, or you've just always been interested in what such an organisation looks like, you can read all about it here. Enjoy, and hopefully we'll see you all at this beautiful new event!
- First off, please introduce yourselves! Who are you, how old are you, where are you from, and of course, what are your backgrounds regarding festivals? Well, my name is
Martin and I am 48 years old. Born, raised and living in Friesland which is an area in the north of The Netherlands. I started visiting fantasy festivals a long time ago and fell absolutely in love with the concept after the first time. The atmosphere, the friendly people, the music and the smell of campfires and food stalls. Just being there is enough to lift my spirit. After about 5 years I signed up as a festival volunteer for the first time. That was an amazing experience and I never could have imagined how much festivals depend on volunteers and how much effort goes into preparing the venue for a two day festival. Now I volunteer for 4 weeks each year and that basically eats up all my vacation days. 🙂
- When did the first dream of Fantasy Forest emerge? 
That was in the summer of 2016. I remember the exact moment well: I had
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