Definitions
Every listing on Folk Calendar is one kind of thing, and one question about a single night decides which. It is what happens that counts, not what a night calls itself: a folk club can run sessions, and a session can have "folk club" in its name.
A session or a folk club night?
Is somebody booked to perform?
- No: A session
- Anyone can join in and nobody is booked: tune and song sessions, singarounds, singers' nights and floor-spot nights, even when a folk club runs them.
- Yes: A folk club night
- Somebody is booked to perform: a named guest, usually with floor spots and a charge on the door.
Most folk clubs do both, and the club itself has a page of its own that lists everything it runs. Its singers' nights are listed as sessions run by the club, because that is where somebody looking for a sing will look. Its guest nights are listed as folk club nights, by who is on. When a guest night falls on a singers' night, the singers' night says so and links to the guest.
A folk club that never books anybody is a session with "folk club" in its name, and is listed as a session.
Musicians who lead a session, or drop in to play, are taking part rather than booked. It is still a session.
A dance?
Did the people who came go there to dance?
- Yes: A social dance
- People come to dance: ceilidhs, bals, contras, Nos Lowens, and the classes that teach them. A band and a caller may be booked; they are there for the dancers.
If they came to watch or listen, it is a folk club night, even with a dance band on. If they came to play or sing, it is a session. If they came to perform, it is morris.
Private dances, such as weddings, birthdays and works parties, are never listed. A public fundraiser is a dance.
Morris
Is this a team that dances to perform?
A morris side is listed with a page of its own: morris, sword, rapper, clog and step teams. Its practices are listed with it.
A practice that anybody may turn up to and dance at, for their own enjoyment, is a dance class, and is listed as a dance. One that trains a side to perform is the side's practice.
Customs and folklore
Does it come round once a year, in its own place, on or near its own day?
A custom is one of those: a wassail, a mummers' play, a well dressing, a May morning. Each place's custom is listed on its own, and the days they share, like May Day, gather them together.
Folklore from the old calendars, the sayings, beliefs and customs no longer kept, belongs to a day of the year. It is there to read, not to go to.
Not sure?
Add it as whichever seems closest and say so in the description, or ask us at info@folkcalendar.com.