Kashmir Fringe Set, 2026

What a fantastic weekend — Kashmir Fringe at Quay Arts, a fabulous free weekend of music from island (and mainland) bands, good beer (until it ran out!), and the perfect room for tellin’ some tales in — The Rope Store Gallery acoustic stage.

I left the story selection right till the last minute, but with quite a few new faces in, thought I could get away with opening with The Wish Ring; then an accompanied tale — The Puca / Pooka and the Washerwomen — with Sophie Kate on fiddle (Irish tunes, not least, The Irish Washerwoman…), The Persimmon Tree with a formula opening (“once upon a time, when…”), and England’s Dreaming to finish, with Glenn providing some lovely bluesy imagining open chords.

And I made one of my goals for 2026 — name on t-shirt not designed or printed by me! I still had to pay for it mind you. So that’s maybe the next goal: free t-shirt with my name on it, not designed or printed by me!

Thanks to Del and all the team at the Quay Arts… and hopefully a beneficial weekend for them…