FOUNDING DIRECTOR

Didier is an arts producer, project manager, artist and curator. He has been involved in producing live music and arts events for over 20 years, most notably as Founding Co-Director of London Contemporary Voices (LCV). He previously co-directed Folkestone Pride Town-wide Arts Festival and was community curator on a local Queer Film Heritage Project with University of Brighton. He also works with the Charles Wood Festival Of Music in Northern Ireland, with Custom FoodLab’s Locavore Growing Project and with several arts and heritage projects on Romney Marsh, where he was Cultural Heritage Officer. Didier has a background in the university research sector, having previously worked for the Arts & Humanities Research Council and as a senior manager for several universities. A lifelong follower of folk music, Didier is also an artist, songwriter and arranger.

FOUNDING DIRECTOR

Belfast-born Sarah studied music at Durham University and is a passionate singer, arts producer and education specialist. Sarah has managed the education programmes for a number of high profile professional ensembles including The Sixteen and Britten Sinfonia, delivering community music projects in a range of settings from the BBC Proms to maximum security prisons. She has coordinated the prestigious young artist programme Genesis Sixteen and set up Sounds Sublime Festival. She is currently General Manager for Southwell Music Festival and also fixes choirs and singers on a freelance basis. Sarah is a trustee for SANSARA Choir and SouthWestFest. She has a wealth of experience in arts administration, music and education.

FOLKEFEST TEAM

Louise Webb is a Dover-based artist, researcher, and curator who has worked throughout Kent, the UK and has shown internationally. She is Artswork’s Placemaking Creative Producer for Kent and also supports the work of Dover Arts Development. Louise has recently been researching the importance of listening spaces in communities. In her artist practice she has been investigating the intimacy of electronic devices and digital hospitality observing how new social histories and fictional realities are being created through shared technologies. Louise’s research practice is currently focused on art community networks, social anthropology, contemporary folklore, social myth, digital anthropology, public spaces, listening spaces, administration of the arts, AI and working ethics.

FOLKEFEST TEAM

Greg is a folk composer, songwriter and sound artist currently exploring the relationship between sound, space and social history. As a keen folklorist and local history enthusiast, he creates contemporary music and soundscapes that investigates the relationships between people, the land and their histories and stories. Greg founded folk band Green Diesel who are well known on the Kentish folk circuit. Greg has worked with several theatre companies. He also has specialisms in work with older people.

FOLKEFEST TEAM / QUEER LIVE ART

Ethan is an artist and independent curator originally from Dover. He is an early-career events producer and is well known for his local exhibitions. Ethan has a significant online following for his queer work and has exhibited for Folkestone Pride and as part of Margate Pride’s takeover of the Turner Contemporary in 2021. He was The Woodshed Gallery’s Emerging Artist 2021, supported by SECCADS. His interests include topics of identity, values, intimacy, and notions of control, formulating ways to reconstruct the idea of ‘self’ and its relationship to place and identity.

FOLKEFEST TEAM

Helen practice occupies the moments where communication fails. By exploring live vocal sounds in conjunction with materials and in response to sites of architectural, ecological and socio-historic interest, they seek to share experiences of the queer(ed) body. Helen has presented work nationally and internationally and is a founding member of SITE (2018 - present): an initiative inviting performance artists to collaborate on site specific performances and actions. They are also an independent curator and currently Chair of Folkestone Pride.