HESFES 2014 at Stonham Barns

The advertised dates for the Stonham Aspal gathering were Saturday 26 July to Saturday 2 August 2014. Families could book a week, visit for the day or stay overnight. At the time, the week price was £80 for an adult and £62 for each child aged seven to seventeen. An electric hook-up was listed separately.

Reading the programme

A travelling library and a speakers’ corner appeared alongside more familiar festival fixtures. A child could choose books, try a workshop, watch a game or join the children's cabaret. Teenagers had a camping area of their own. The printed entertainment list named acts including Freya Ridings and George Barnett and also offered an open mic for visitors.

Workshop artist SamiArt includes the festival among its clients for 2013–15, specifically recording silk painting. The credit adds a maker’s perspective to programme listings that grouped many sessions under a single word, “workshops”.

How the event was paid for

The 2014 listing described a co-operative of volunteers putting on a self-funding event. The ticket covered activities, so a family deciding between the cinema and a workshop did not have to price each one separately. Read how booking worked for the differences between a week ticket, a shorter visit and paid extras.