We are the Essex Folk Association and we welcome you to our website and hope that you will find it helpful and informative.
Who are we?
We are an association of individuals and clubs; dancers, singers, musicians, story tellers, artisans, performance venues and anybody who is interested in watching, listening, staging or taking part in any of the folk arts. Everybody is welcome, so come and join us and have some fun.
What will you find on our website?
Our website contains a wealth of information about events taking place in venues in and around Essex supplied to us by the contacts of the various Clubs, Groups, Organisations and Individuals that comprise the membership of the EFA.
We try to keep this site as accurate and up-to-date as possible but if you do spot any inaccuracies please let us know by leaving a message and do, please, feel free to let us have any comments/suggestions.
What are the Folk Arts?
Folk Arts represent the history of cultural life within our community. These can be tangible objects which are crafted in traditional ways or intangible knowledge and skills, such as music, dancing and story telling. Folk Arts convey a community’s cultural identity, rather than an individual or idiosyncratic artistic identity.
In it’s simplest sense, the term ‘folk’ simply means something believed or transmitted by the ordinary people; not necessarily academically correct or rigorous. So a ‘folk art’ can be any art form pertaining to the inhabitants of a land, their culture, tradition, or history.
The folk arts that we promote are not exclusively rooted in English culture. Some have been brought to England by communities who have come and settled here.
Byrhtnoth, Ealdorman of Essex – bronze statue by John Doubleday which stands on the promenade at Maldon, Essex
Essex Folk Association 
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