If you’ve read my previous post about turning 21, you’ll know I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy — I was terrified of ageing. One of the main reasons for this is that I’d told myself a few weeks ago that 21 would definitely be better than 20, so I feared I’d beat myself up if I still felt the same. It’s only been a couple of weeks so far, but it is proving to be pretty good: perhaps because I’m still riding the ‘birthday high’, or maybe things are starting to change for the better.
I had some unforgettable yet unconventional celebrations on my special day: I spent it at Sidmouth Folk Festival with the Fosbrooks, my music group. I thought it’d be strange not to celebrate my 21st with my family, but I’ve been part of the Fosbrooks for so long that they’re essentially a second family to me. If you want to know how to celebrate your 21st birthday in style as a folk musician, look no further.
Friday, 1st August 2025
The trip started with an 8-hour coach journey to Devon, made more bearable by singing some of our favourite songs. I’d informed everyone beforehand it was imperative they all learnt the lyrics to my all-time favourite: If I had a hammer by Pete Seeger. We used to sing it at primary school, but weirdly enough, the age groups both above and below me didn’t know the song, so it must only have been used for a short time. Anyway, I managed to drill it into everyone’s heads over the week, and now they’ll never forget it.
Us Fosbrooks aren’t well-acquainted with the idea of hotels, so our accommodation came in the form of a cosy village hall. Most of us slept on the same hall floor with our camp beds, which we started by unpacking and arranging. There wasn’t much space to move, so I joked that the most uttered word on the trip was, “Sorry”, as we were constantly getting under each other’s feet. Still, I think there’s no way of getting to know people better than being in close quarters for a week straight, so perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing! We discovered that the hall backed onto a graveyard, which became our designated ‘chilling spot’ away from everyone else. It was a relaxing, albeit eerie, social space where we enjoyed spending our free time.
There were some points over the week where I started feeling a bit anxious over certain things, but the fact I was surrounded by people I love, doing something I love, helped me to see things differently in the sense of: it was a privilege I had the chance to come to such a beautiful part of the world, and we’re all going to look back on this time in a few years from now with fondness, so I’m going to spend it being present and laughing with my Fosbrooks family. There was no room for anxiety here!
We had pasta bake for tea, made by our fantastic cooks-cum-wardrobe-assistants-cum-groupies-cum-general-moral-support Audrey and Sarah. They do so much for us and are a great help at our practices, events and trips. We spent the evening talking and getting settled until we went to bed in preparation for our first day of performances.
Saturday, 2nd August 2025
For some reason, I always seem to be the first person to wake up on Fosbrooks trips. There’s just something weird about waking up surrounded by a bunch of other sleeping lions and falling back asleep. So, every morning I’d wake up, sit at the table to read and do my makeup, whilst everyone else was beginning to stir. I’d started Little Women on the coach, borrowed from Liza, and I’d already read about half of it by the second day. I also added a few entries to my journal over the week, but I fully updated it upon my return.
My dear friends from left to right: Ellen, Alice and Flo
We had to be up and out by 10am for our first performance at 11. It’s always a slightly stressful experience getting ready for performing; our costume has to be on, our hair done in French plaits, complete with ribbons and a sash around the waist. The coach often can’t park close to where we’re performing, so the Fosbrooks method of unloading is: find your instrument pronto, get a chair if you need one, if you’re a big strong lad get the amps and help Audrey with the truck, if you’re not then step to the side to avoid blocking the pavement.
Our first performance was a success. There was a bit of a competition between all the groups of who could raise the most money for the festival, so we sent our youngest performers into the audience with buckets to collect donations. We didn’t have a card reader, denting our potential, but we’d raised £1000 by the end of the week, 3rd out of all the teams, so we hadn’t done half bad.
It was soon dinnertime (or as they say in Devon, lunchtime). The way we Fosbrooks eat our dinner is by finding somewhere to sit, often a car park or random patch of grass, passing around tupperware with an assortment of sandwiches, followed by a bag with different crisps, followed by a chocolate biscuit. I believe there’s also fruit, but I was on holiday, so it was invisible to me. We are a classy bunch!
Saturday was the day we did the first of our three processions. I was standing at the front, alongside the banner girls, acting as the pied piper of Sidmouth with my penny whistle. Something I learnt from this is that playing the whistle whilst walking and trying to stay the correct distance away from both our dancers and the team in front, is much harder than it looks. I still had plenty of fun representing the Fosbrooks, and we ended it with a swift 7-minute spot in the Blackmore Marquee.
All ready to go!
With all our performances done for the day, we went back to the hall to relax. Romero, our coach driver, took some people to Tesco, but I didn’t go because I couldn’t be bothered and didn’t need anything. Some of the oldest members took the littlest ones to the park to keep them entertained, but I decided to stay at the hall, have a shower in peace, and read. My phone was connected to the speaker, and it was absolute bliss being alone and able to play the music I liked! I said this to my friends at one point, but I used to suffer badly from FOMO, so I would have probably gone to Tesco purely to say that I went, but nowadays, I’ve gone past the point of caring — I know they’d tell me if anything interesting happened (which, let’s face it, isn’t likely at Tesco).
My friends returned from the shop with a selection of ciders. Before the trip, I told myself I was going to wait until my birthday to drink because I get terrible hangovers and didn’t want to feel dreadful whilst performing. With this in mind, I sat with my friends, abstaining, and laughing at their increasing tipsiness. It was a pleasant evening, and debatably even better because I could watch it from a sober perspective. It was soon time to go to sleep.
Sunday, 3rd August 2025
My ‘birthday eve’. My mum tells me that, the night before my birth, she had a tiramisu at Sainsbury’s café that she believes is the reason she went into labour (I was born 4 days early), and now she won’t eat it again. I don’t know whether she thinks she’s going to magically have another baby if she eats tiramisu or what, but I texted her joking that it was 21 years ago to the day, to which she replied, “Never again.” Mums are funny.
We had three thirty-minute performances to do, with chunks of free time in the middle. The previous day, I’d made friends with members of Catseye Morris, a morris-dancing team based in Cornwall, and I’d bumped into them again when they told me, “Happy birthday for tomorrow.” I was flattered that they’d remembered, and I invited them to the ceilidh the following night to celebrate, to which they told me they’d be there.
Between our first and second performances, we had dinner on the beach. I brought a swimming costume just in case I fancied braving the English Channel, but I once again experienced the joy of missing out by simply sitting and being the photographer. I chaperoned two of the little ones as they wanted to look at the market stalls on the seafront, and I bought myself a ring. This one fits better than the one I bought in Dublin, however it’s starting to turn my finger green since it’s made of brass. I read online that you can clean brass with toothpaste, which I tried and has made it look better. I love being adorned with jewellery but I don’t love the maintenance!
After our last display finished at 6pm, we headed back to the hall. I’d brought some yarn and a crochet hook with me because I’ve tried and failed many times to teach myself to crochet, and Sarah is a stupefyingly good crocheter, so we spent the evening having a crochet lesson. It was certainly a relaxing way to spend one’s final night of being 20, even if it resulted in frustration from working out where all my fingers should go! I now understand it better than I did before thanks to Sarah’s help — I just need practice.
When I emerged from Sarah’s room, Jamie, Fosbrooks’ long-standing pianist who now only occasionally shows his face, was playing the piano as everyone sang along. They were singing ‘The Lord’s my Shepherd’ because we were to be singing it at our hour-long set on the Thursday, but I made a special request. Any guesses? If I had a hammer, of course. What else? It was a really pleasant and memorable evening, and a great way to put my 20th year to bed.
Monday, 4th August 2025
The big day! I was once again one of the first to wake, and the first thing I did was open the three presents my mum had given me. They were The Picture of Dorian Gray, complete with a cute little bookmark, the Billie Eilish perfume, and a blue top from River Island. The book came at the perfect time as I had finished reading Little Women that same morning. Then, when my friends had finally risen, they presented me with their present for me: a pretzel Jellycat keyring! It’s funny, because I’d always wanted a Jellycat but I feel they’re something you have to be gifted rather than bought yourself, but as if by chance, we had one at the charity shop the previous week where I treated myself — it was only £5. So, I’ve gone from having zero to two in the space of a couple of weeks. Perhaps it’s the start of an obsessive collection…
On the way down, I was on the hunt for the new iced vanilla berry Red Bull at the service station, but they sadly didn’t have it. Imagine the joy on my face when Ollie, my not-so-little mate with nearly 2 foot on me, surprised me with it! The best types of gifts are the ones they know you’ve been wanting, so I felt really grateful he’d gone through that effort for me. Liza then presented me with my present from her and Phil: a cooling lunchbox (which I jokingly call a dinnerbox because I’m northern) with a cheery lemon print. The second-best types of gifts are practical ones you would never think to buy yourself, and I’ve used it almost daily since I got it — my presents ended up fitting the bill.
I was gifted coach music privileges for the day, therefore I chose to blast my favourite songs en-route to our performances. Typically, my birthday was the rainiest day of the week, so we worried our first display would be rained off. However, Fosbrooks always find a way to make do, so we wore rain ponchos, making us look a bit silly, but the show had to go on! Liza announced at every performance that it was my 21st birthday, so I had to stand at the front whilst the audience sang to me. I later learnt she had purposely excluded some of our repertoire to ensure there was enough time for happy birthday, which I find both funny and sweet.
21-year-old Ela ready for her school trip; she’s even got a poncho and a lunchbox!
We had to eat dinner on the coach because of the rain. We then had some free time to explore the town, so we made our way to a music shop as I was on the hunt for a new violin case — mine is ridiculously heavy and left me with little biceps by the end of the week. I didn’t end up finding one in Sidmouth, but I remembered that my old violin was in my loft, so I’ve swapped the cases round, and I’ll buy a proper case when the time is right. We tried some of the instruments in the music shop which ended with customers applauding us. I also bought myself a rose quartz palm stone, a birthday gift to myself as you can never have too many crystals.
The lads: Charlie (left) and Ollie (right)
Our second performance of the day was fortunately under a bandstand. The rain had gone off a bit, until the exact moment we went on, when the heavens truly did open! It meant our audience was probably a bit smaller than it could have been, but I don’t blame them! After our third performance in the Blackmore Marquee, we got food in town for tea because our next display was at the ceilidh, so we thought it’d be easier to stay out all day. I went to a food stall at the festival for a halloumi burger (one of my favourite foods), and when I told them it was my birthday, they gave me some chips and a drink for free! For someone who was scared of their birthday a few days prior, I learnt that you have to milk it for what you can get sometimes.
After we ate and did our 10-minute set at the ceilidh, it was party time. The plaits were soon out, and we all got into our glad rags for an evening of dancing. I’d bought a dress from the charity shop for the occasion, and I fell in love with it despite not being a big dress person. Even if I never wear it again, which I reckon I will, you can’t go wrong for the hefty price of £1. I noticed that my morris friends weren’t at the ceilidh after promising they would be, but oh well — I had my Fosbrooks friends instead.
Not bad for a quid, is it?
We didn’t stay for too long as we had an early workshop the next morning. We ended the night back at the village hall with a couple of glasses of wine with cheese and biscuits. We also had some dolma, a Turkish delicacy consisting of vine leaves stuffed with rice, but nobody else besides me seemed to like them. I must get points for embracing my culture on my birthday. When it was time for bed, my tipsy brain knew it would be too dangerous to descend the stage steps to get to my bed, ergo I did the safest alternative: I did a running jump off the stage, across three people in their beds, to get to mine. It’s a real shame I can’t post videos on here; it was hilarious at the time.
Tuesday, 5th August 2025
The day after my birthday marked the birthday of another special Fosbrooks member: Becky. We sang happy birthday to her, and I passed on my birthday girl rosette. Our first event of the day was a clogging workshop in a tent on top of a massive hill, which wasn’t fun to walk up with a bulky violin case. Us non-dancers sat outside the workshop with John, Becky’s husband, to practice a tune we needed to perfect for our performance on Thursday, taking turns getting our hair done as we didn’t have time before leaving.
Two performances later, we went back to the hall for tea and to get ready for another ceilidh. I wore the top my mum had given me for my birthday, which looked really nice on. The following day was our day off, therefore I decided that if I was going to drink a lot, this night would be the best to do it. I ended up getting three drinks at the ceilidh, which frankly left me quite tipsy — I’m small and don’t drink often, meaning my tolerance is low. Lots of laughing and dancing were done by us, even though we didn’t understand some dances and made them up as we went along!
Once back, myself and the others who were of age shared a bottle of wine between us. Sarah told me she’d bought me a birthday cake they’d forgotten to give me and light the candles for, so we opened it then. John also surprised Becky with a birthday cake and a chocolate tray bake for us to pass around, making it a very sweet night in more ways than one. I concluded it was time for bed as the wine had made me rather drunk.
Wednesday, 6th August 2025
Our day off was finally here. It was also our coach driver’s day off, meaning we weren’t allowed to use the coach at all. We started the morning by practising some tunes with John, until I was sent off to teach a tune to one of the youngest ones. I taught her half of it, until I started feeling ill out of nowhere. I sent her off to practise it herself, and I found the least visible place to lie down, Ollie’s camp bed, which was hidden behind the stage curtains. This is what I mean when I said I get terrible hangovers!
I slept through a couple of the rehearsals, and I’m very glad even now that I wasn’t woken up for them. In my half-asleep stupor, I’d asked Charlie if he could get me an iced latte from the shop, but he told me they didn’t have any. When I’d eventually gained the energy to move, I snuck off to look for myself and he was right — the village shop was few and far between. I bought myself the next best thing: a Red Bull, and the minimum on card was £2.50, so I also walked out with a bottle of Diet Coke.
The Red Bull thankfully sorted me right out, meaning I was able to participate in the later rehearsals in front of the hall. The few residents of Colaton Raleigh, the village where we stayed, probably didn’t know what had hit them! Hannah James, an ex-Fosbrooks member who performed with us at the show on Thursday, came to visit us with her partner and adorable daughter, giving us good practice should any of us be having kids.
We had a BBQ-style tea sitting outside, which was nice despite the increasingly cool weather and wasps that wanted a piece of the action. We spent the evening at the pub, where, after the events of the day, I wisely ordered a lime and soda. But, at £2.25 for the privilege, it would have been more cost-effective to get a pint! We sat in the pub garden having piggy-back races (that I won), playing primary school playground games, and generally acting a bit juvenile, until we went back to the hall and went to bed.
Thursday, 7th August 2025
To shock our systems after our calm day off, we had to be at the tent for another workshop at 9:30am! Up the hill, we went off with John again to play through tunes, and we even learnt a new one. When you’ve been in Fosbrooks for as long as me, it’s not often you learn new material — it’s more likely that I’ll be teaching a younger member a tune, so it’s nice to keep my brain active and learn something new once in a while.
To ensure we didn’t run out, we were told to bring at least four white shirts with us for our costume. Liza had told me to get some nice blouses for this, as we normally just wear white long-sleeve school shirts, and I’d managed to find two that I liked. I wore the first one on my birthday, and she told me that our most important shows were on the Thursday, meaning I was saving my other one for then. They’re much comfier, cooler, and not to mention prettier than school shirts, and I think they add a nice personal touch to the costume.
It was good that I’d saved it for today, because our next stop was our hour-long ‘Chance to Meet’ show. For the first time this week, the youngest girls performed the sword dances they’d been practising. Niall, one of our members and lovely adult volunteers, had taught it to them this year and I could see the tension in his face as they were dancing, so imagine our collective relief when they successfully formed the star and received a huge round of applause.
Hannah James also did a little performance of her own during our set, where she performed one of her tunes on the accordion. It was a really beautiful tune and a pleasant transition from the usual Fosbrooks repertoire. She then joined our dancers to perform our ‘wardrobe door’ routine, as well as the iconic Mrs Willis’ dance in our final set of the show, The Maid Behind the Bar. This show was our best performance yet, with an impressed audience that pays testimony.
Next, another procession. Because of how hard I found playing the whistle as well as walking it, I chose to spend this one holding the collection bucket. It was normally Sarah and Audrey in charge of this, but they told me they’d probably be more likely to give money to me as I was wearing kit unlike them. I managed to get a few bits of change, but it was surprisingly difficult as there were so many teams around us that some people would say, “Sorry, I gave my money to them”, referring to the team in front, which was annoying, but simply the nature of processions.
After our short set following the procession, we had some free time, so Niall, with how proud he was of his sword dancing team, took everyone for an ice cream. I didn’t fancy it, so I instead decided to spend my free time getting my portrait done in Blackmore Gardens. I’d walked past this man drawing people’s portraits who had intrigued me, so I thought that I may as well. I had to sit in the chair for about an hour, trying to gauge the meaning of passersby’s reactions to his drawing, and it thankfully turned out amazing! I sent a picture of it to my mum, and she said she’s going to find a frame to hang it in our house.
When we got back to the hall, we soon went back out to Tesco, and I actually decided to go this time. I could understand why they enjoyed going: a whole coach for just our age group, playing the music we liked (when we had service, which there isn’t a lot of down there), and able to buy what we wanted. I was on the hunt for a Monster for the following morning — we all became caffeine fiends over the week to combat the long days and sleep deprivation. When we got back, the other ones who hadn’t gone were playing bingo, so we joined in a few games before bedtime.
Friday, 8th August 2025
Our last day of performances. It had been an absolutely fantastic week of friendship, frolicking, and folk music, but it had been equally intense, so I was happy to be nearing the end. Our first set of the day, and penultimate performance, was on the seafront, followed by our final individual show: an overture and set to open the dance show in Connaught Gardens. I bumped into my morris team of friends who failed to turn up to my birthday ceilidh — they told me they hoped I had a great birthday, and they’d completely forgotten that they’d arranged a cocktail night on the same night. I joked that I should have been invited, but then told them not to worry; I had a fun night regardless.
We spent our last afternoon on the beach, this time far busier as the weather was nicer than the previous time. Some people chose to explore the town, but I decided to lie on the beach and continue my book, the one I’d received for my birthday. I was engrossed by Oscar Wilde’s writing and found it a shame what had happened to him; I’d have loved to read more of his novels.
Liza took a few of us sitting on the beach to buy an ice cream on the promenade. I chose the salted caramel and cookies and cream flavours, which were both delicious, made even more delicious by the picturesque view of the English Channel. I then spent time searching for a pretty rock on the beach to take home as a souvenir, where I joked about my maturity of turning 21 and spending my first week of it rock hunting! I ended up taking home a nice little white rock with quartz inside. I’m like a magpie — my eyes are drawn to shiny things.
The very last event we had was the torchlit procession and closing ceremony of the festival at 10pm that night. So, we went back to the hall beforehand to have our tea and get ready. We each had a set of fairy lights to put on ourselves somehow so we’d be seen in the dark, and because I wasn’t bringing an instrument, I threaded them through my waistcoat and wrapped them around myself. We sang a few songs in the village hall car park to raise morale, my favourite included, until it was time to go.
The whole gang
I was given two torches to hold in the procession, which excited and scared me in equal measure. I was told we were to be ending on the beach, and I needed to walk to the water and wait until the fireworks started, where I would dip the torches in the sea to put them out. This didn’t quite go to plan, as the flames had reached the bottom and therefore my hand before the fireworks, so I had to throw it on the ground! Typically, the fireworks started soon after where I instantly forgot about anything else because they were spectacular. Jamie and John even started playing Firework by Katy Perry on their instruments, which was a lovely added touch.
Once back, Liza thought it a good idea for Jamie to get on the piano for one last primary-school singsong. Liza had told us all that this would be her final big festival with us, as she was getting old and wanted to pass the responsibility on to her protégé, Zoe. This made us feel emotional — we’d grown up with Liza and we know it’ll feel different without her, so when Jamie started playing Wild Mountain Thyme, we all burst into tears. “Come on, Jamie – play something a bit more upbeat!” I said between sobs, but no, we all sang, with an air of bittersweet. A beautiful end to the week.
“Ela, how did you spend your first Friday night of being 21?”
Saturday, 9th August 2025
After all the commotion of Friday, I woke up feeling absolutely knackered, but I wanted a shower before everyone else woke up and needed to start packing my things for our return to Stockport. When Liza was up, she asked me, “What was all that performance about last night?”, to which I explained it was moving for us as we’ve grown up with her and she’s all we’ve ever known, but she didn’t really get it because, in her words, she’s “not dead yet”! You can always rely on Liza for some tough love.
Audrey kindly made me a ‘facon’ butty for breakfast, a tasty start which fuelled me to pack everything back in my suitcase and help load the coach. To give the helpers time to tidy the hall, we took the younger ones to the park, where I hitched a lift on Ollie’s back. After the week we’d had, we spent the time sitting on the grass, not doing much, until it was time to take the kids back and start our long journey home.
Who needs legs when you’ve got an Ollie?
The coach journey was quiet for most of the way since we were all exhausted, a large contrast from the way down, but we did end it with a few belters for old time’s sake. As with most Fosbrooks trips I go on, I’m happy to get home after a jam-packed week of performing, but I feel a twinge of sadness that I’m no longer going to be constantly surrounded by my friends — I suppose it’s part of the process. When I finally got home and saw my mum, the house had banners and ‘21’ balloons, and I was able to celebrate my birthday again, this time with family, so the novelty had yet to wear off.
Closing thoughts
It was an absolutely incredible experience performing at Sidmouth Folk Festival; I’d heard many of the older ones in Fosbrooks tell me how great Sidmouth is, so I’m grateful to have seen it as part of Liza’s final big festival. As I’m used to going to Whitby, my main impression of Sidmouth as a town was that it’s very reminiscent of Whitby, which happens to be my favourite place in the UK, except smaller and therefore more manageable for a first trip there.
As aforementioned at the start, I didn’t really know how to feel about the fact it was going to fall on my birthday, but it meant in actual fact that whenever anyone asks me, “What did you do for your 21st birthday?”, I’m forever going to remember the answer! While it definitely isn’t a common celebration for your milestone birthday to spend it wearing a traditional velvet waistcoat playing the fiddle, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
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