Rhythm, rhymes and reels!

We had the best of nights recently at The Venue in Kendal raising funds for two local charities very close to our hearts - St John's Hospice and Cancer Research.

Our first half of songs by Fellside Singers were interspersed with spoken word by local poet Ian Chapman. In the second half, we cleared space in the middle and danced the evening away in the hands of the Weirdstring Band leading us in a ceilidh with a difference.

We were delighted that this sold out event raised £750 for each of our charities. Thanks to all those who supported us - it was such a delightful evening my face hurt from smiling by the end!

 

Levens and Sedgwick Fundraiser

We had a great time performing at the Levens and Sedgwick Playing Fields fundraising concert. Here is a selection from our second set. No video I'm afraid just the wonderful singing!

Listen to the playlist here

Wow - what an amazing spectacle!

Fellside Singers performed to probably their largest ever audience at the Kendal Christmas Light's Switch On and Launch of the Kendal Mountain Festival in November. With a distinct chill in the air, the good people of Kendal came out in their masses to watch the spectacle of the Mountain Festival parade up Stricklandgate accompanied by the wonderful Drum Nation band and beautifully lit up dancers. Fellside Singers lead a festive sing along with Fairytale of New York and One Day Like This. It was wonderful to see so many people smiling, clapping and singing along too. Thanks to Kendal Town Council for organising this event which was enjoyed by many.

Do check out this great drone footage of the event by Jonny Gios.

 

Run Helen Run - SUCCESS!

A HUGE thank you to all who came and filled the Parish Hall with love and support for Helen at our Fellside Singers and Pandora's Handbag joint fundraising gig recently. 

That night, we raised over a whopping £1500 for APEC (Action on Pre-eclampsia) and overall, Helen was their top marathon fundraiser this year! 

With recordings of us singing in her ears, she absolutely went on to complete the whole of the London Marathon on Sunday 21st April in an amazing yet gruelling 6.33.51! 

Helen writes "We only went and did it!! We started together, stayed together and crossed the finish line together. An amazing atmosphere and an incredible achievement! I may have just put my name in the ballot for next year...... Thank you so much for all the support and love. Totally overwhelming and wonderful. Thank you xx"

Run Helen, Run

Our very own Helen is taking on the incredible task of running the London Marathon in April. As a midwife, she is raising money for a charity close to her heart - Action on Pre-Eclampsia. They research and raise awareness of this disease that some women can get during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth, which can be life threatening to mother and baby.

Helen's second passion is singing. She is, of course, in the Fellside Singers but she also sings, along with Annette, Clare and Rachael in a quartet called Pandora's Handbag. To raise money for her charity our two singing groups are joining forces for a wonderful evening of acapella singing in Kendal. There will be tea, coffee and cake available for purchase, all proceeds going to the charity.

Tickets available at: Run Helen, Run - Snappy Tickets - We'd love to see you there!

Street Choirs 2023

The 2023 Street Choirs Festival was held in our home town of Kendal. Over 40 choirs from across the UK came to Kendal to share in the joy of singing. There was a mass sing involving over 900 singers; the separate choirs busked around town and there was an evening concert where everyone was in the spotlight for 7 minutes. Here are a couple of video medleys. 

Together in Harmony

Our twice postponed concert is going ahead! We will be performing at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal on 8th April 2022 at 7.30. The concert is raising funds for St John's Hospice and is a conjunction with St John's Hospice Choir. If you would like to enjoy an evening of singing in aid of a wonderful organisation then get your tickets, phone 01539 725113 or go to their website

Cave Sing

One of our favourite evenings out is to go and sing in Cathedral Cave in Little Langdale. 

Raising funds for Bendrigg Trust

We have a great time at Kendal Unitarian Schoolhouse raising funds, and raising the roof, for Bendrigg Trust.

Choir member Steve Grice is an outdoor instructor with Bendrigg, providing activities for young people with special needs. We sung to a capacity crowd and raised over £2000 for this great cause.

A Facebook highlights reel!

A Very Special Wedding

What could we do when one of our choir members got married apart from sing!

In the beautiful setting of the Rusland valley we helped Paul and Mel celebrate their marriage, including singing during the ceremony.

Sprint Mill

One Day Like This from our 2018 concert at Sprint Mill.

Warmed by the fire and the cake we had a atmospheric evening of music and poetry despite the snow outside. Thanks to Romola and Edward for their warm welcome.

Bownessie - What did they see?

On Thursday night we could be found in the Fellside Centre doing something a bit unusual. We were recording the soundtrack for a new mockumentary style film called HUMPS (In Search of Bownessie), thanks to a collaboration with film maker and musician Elliott James Léon. 

The piece entitled What did they see? features us singing as well as a fabulous string sextet. It was great fun and amazing to see, first hand, the intricacies of recording and to be involved in this community project.

Look out for the film, due to be launched sometime later next year. 

Street Choirs Festival

If you want to see us in action this Saturday, we will be busking in Kendal as part of the Street Choirs Festival 2017. Catch us at the Elephant Yard 13:20-13:40; the Joshua Tree Yard 14:20-14:40 & outside Kendal Library 15:00-15:20.

More information on the festival here

Fun in the Sun at Staveley Carnival

We had a great time in the sunshine of Staveley Carnival. We sung some new songs mixed with some old favourites. It was a return to the roots of Fellside Singers; our origins lie in the 2009 Carnival, so we were even more delighted to be there this year.

Concert at Ings Church

Singing with Spookmeister

What a pleasure it was singing with the Spookmeister himself, Stephen Taberner, yesterday in sunny Kendal. During the workshop in the afternoon, followed by being a supporting act to the evening's musical delights, we all had a fabulous time. Sincere thanks to the wonderful Clare Elleray Mee for organising the entire event and pinning down Stephen to entertain, teach and inspire us to greatness!

The Parish Hall turned out to be a gem of a place to sing in - thanks to Jamie for this extract of our short but sweet early set - Let the River Run by Wendy Sergeant .

Singing at Growing Well

We had a great evening yesterday singing at the Growing Well harvest celebration. Growing Well help people with their mental health through participation in organic horticulture. Each year they hold a celebration to thanks the trainees and volunteers for their efforts. We were delighted to be again asked to join them.

Live on the radio

A month or so we got a request, as part of BBC local music day would we like to sing live on BBC Cumbria. Of course we would! But then there were the details...

It was during half term, some of the choir were away, including Rachael our musical director...

We were to be on the breakfast show, live at 8am...

We would be singing at Pooley Bridge...

11 of us managed the early start and we sung live on BBC Radio Cumbria, we also made it onto the BBC Music Day highlights, you can see us here we are at 1:07.

Supporting A Fistful of Spookies

In February the fabulous group of singers A Fistful of Spookies played Kendal Town Hall and we performed a 30 minute set in support.

We performed a selection of our favourites. Here are a few to give you a taste. Forgive the traffic noise on the recording!


May You See Diamonds Ali Burns


Mra Val trad


Green Growth the Holly trad


Kinderly Mediæval Bæbes


Shosholoza trad

Live with the Henry Girls

As fans of the Fellside Singers may know we sang the Henry Girls song, Here Beside Me at Annie and Ed's wedding. An arrangement they wrote specially for us.

Well last month they contacted us to say that they had a gig in Carlisle and would we like to join them on stage to perform the song with them, of course we would!

After a quick pre-gig run through with them, on cue we rose from the audience and joined them on stage much to surprise of the rest the crowd.

Many thanks to Karen, Lorna and Joleen.