Every summer M@HoT participants attended UK folk festivals, as an opportunity to see and hear and perform traditional music in a wider context. At the end of each trip, it is always the evening ceilidhs that receive the most praise and enthusiasm as the bands talk about what they enjoyed, and sparking a collective ‘lightbulb moment’ that the music they play is designed to be danced to - and the wish to programme something similar at home.

In March 2019, with support from Northern Heartlands & CDCF’s ‘Community Initiatives Fund’, M@HoT launched The Ceilidh Project. Programmed as a series of 4 seasonal events to share our love for social dance and folk music, we brought some of the best UK folk bands to village halls across Teesdale, delivering an afternoon masterclass, followed by dancing in the evening.

Our ceilidhs and workshop programme were expertly led by Banter, 422, Pons Aelius & Whapweasel with the fantastic Michelle Holding as our resident caller, championing inclusive, encouraging and non-gendered calling throughout the project; with sound by Tom Stanier.

Alongside the ceilidhs and workshops, we were treated to top class interval entertainment. Traditional dance teams Black Gate and The Newcastle Kingsmen were invited to display, which was of particular interest to those involved in our Music for/Dancing to Music project.

We also engaged with local history, collaborating with other community projects. In the second ceilidh (422, Mickleton), The Northern Heartlands Singers and Cream Tees reunited to perform ‘Dragon’s Teeth and Waterfalls’, an original composition by Katie Doherty, written for our Eggleston Show Music Project about the Teesdale landscape.

In the final ceilidh (Whapweasel, The Witham), The Castle Players brought a series of oral histories interviews to life. The interviews were collected during the early stages of M@HoT's delivery between
2012-14 with local residents, exploring memories of folk music and social dance in the dales.
These were edited together by Laurence Sachs to create a series of 7 vignettes that were shared
in-between dances throughout the night.