“Entertaining and evocative.” That’s how one guest summed up MMF’s first folk concert. This was held during the evening of Thursday 3rd March  It was standing room only in the Museum Friends’ Shop in Fremlin Walk when talented Kent Song Collective – Bob Kenward, John and Di Cullen –  performed a wide range of songs about Kent and Maidstone.

Bob Kenward, a stalwart of the Kent folk scene, has written many of the songs. He and the Cullens, both well known in the county’s folk circles, perform at festivals across the county and beyond, and will be appearing at the Sweeps Festival in Rochester in May.  The songs “captured Kent life perfectly,” said a guest. They featured hop-picking, the symbolic horse, steam trains, fruit and vegetables and even Meridian News.

There were countless references to local place names, including Kit’s Coty. John and Di showed their versatility by dressing up for a performance of a music hall song about the Coronation of Edward Vii in 1920. Di also delighted the audience by playing a psaltery, based on the design of an ancient stringed instrument.

Bob praised the audience for being so responsive and “right from the off sang along merrily.” Guests included MMF President Sir Robert Worcester and the Mayor of Maidstone Cllr Fay Gooch, who congratulated the singers and audience at the end of the show.

Thanks are due to Elaine Craven and her colleague, also Elaine, for their emergency help on an evening when two trustees  -Trevor Sturgess, who had arranged the concert, and Mike Evans (events organiser) – were ruled out by Covid. Trustee and shop manager Ivan White coped gamely with operations on the night.

The singers and MMF were so delighted with the event that it is scheduled to be held – with a different repertoire – next year.