---
events:
- name: Bristol Contra Dance
details: "Bristol Contra Dance is a communal-style folk dance very similar to a Ceilidh. No partner or experience is necessary. A caller leads the dancers through a series of moves. All calling is gender free.\n\nLouise Siddons will be calling with music from Fiddlechicks.\n\nWe are in the Faith Space Chapel. It's nice and close to Temple Meads and comes with free parking. Check the new Bristol Clean Air Zone information carefully, as this may effect you.\n\nWe have cheese in the break, along with tea, coffee and cordial. You are welcome to bring your own things. Please don't bring alcohol, as this is the venue rule.\n\nBristol Contra is committed to not having the cost of a dance be a hindrance to anyone attending, and have a sliding pay scale.\n\nSuggested prices available on the door:\nUnwaged £6\nWaged £10\nSupporters Ticket £15.\nThe new supporters ticket is a fair representation of what the event costs to run, and supports fair fees for the Band and Caller. It is entirely voluntary.\n\nSo bring your smiles and your joy and come join us for amazing social dancing. Absolutely all welcome of any level of experience for great dancing to some amazing gender-free calling and brilliant music!"
links:
- "https://bristolcontra.wordpress.com/"
- "https://www.facebook.com/events/865675028962690/"
start: "2025-06-20T19:45:00+01:00"
end: "2025-06-20T23:00:00+01:00"
country: UK
city: Bristol
styles:
- contra
workshop: true
social: true
bands:
- Fiddlechicks
callers:
- Louise Siddons
price: £6-£15
organisation: Bristol Contra
source: events/uk/bristol_contra.yaml
- name: Contrabridge
details: "Join us for our contra dance with Box of Frogs with calling from Louise Siddons.\r\n\r\nTwo of the most exciting players on the Contra dance scene. With creative, colourful accordion player Ali Messer (Blue Mountain, Alterations, Fat Harry, Fiddle Chicks) and high energy fiddling from Linda Game (ECDB, Token Women) expect an evening of fabulous dance music. Box the gnat and swat the flea, but can you spot the frog?\r\n\r\nLouise Siddons was born in the UK but moved to the United States as a child, where she grew up surrounded by folk music and song. Now back in the UK permanently, she is known on both sides of the Atlantic as a contra, English country dance, and ceilidh caller. Louise believes that we should invest in the evolution and sustainability of folk traditions and their ongoing relevance to contemporary culture. As a caller and dance teacher, she strives to create a fun and welcoming atmosphere with her low-key and light-hearted stage presence. She received the 2016 Mary Judson/Brad Foster Award for English Dance Teachers from the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS), and has been a committee member for the Friends of English Dance (UK) since 2018. In 2021, she received a diversity grant from the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) in support of her gender-free teaching and calling. In 2022, CDSS published her booklet on gender-free, positional calling, “Dancing the Whole Dance: Positional Calling for Contra.” This winter, she is starting Winchester's first-ever queer ceilidh series, WinQeilidh."
links:
- "https://contrabridge.org/events/2025-06/"
- "https://www.facebook.com/events/1200479931872636/"
start: "2025-06-28T19:30:00+01:00"
end: "2025-06-28T23:00:00+01:00"
country: UK
city: Cambridge
styles:
- contra
workshop: true
social: true
bands:
- Box of Frogs
callers:
- Louise Siddons
price: £7-£15
organisation: Contrabridge
source: events/uk/contrabridge.yaml
- name: Stegastomp
links:
- "https://www.stegastomp.co.uk/"
- "https://www.facebook.com/events/1697234160875967/"
start: "2025-07-04T18:30:00+01:00"
end: "2025-07-06T16:30:00+01:00"
country: UK
city: Harbury
styles:
- contra
workshop: true
social: true
bands:
- Contrasaurus
callers:
- Charlotte Rich-Griffin
- Louise Siddons
price: £50-£65
organisation: Contrasaurus
source: events/uk/harbury.yaml
- name: London Barndance
links:
- "https://www.barndance.org/programme.html"
- "https://www.facebook.com/events/1631837837471114/"
start: "2025-07-12T20:00:00+01:00"
end: "2025-07-12T23:00:00+01:00"
country: UK
city: London
styles:
- contra
workshop: false
social: true
bands:
- WillPower
callers:
- Louise Siddons
price: £5-£15
organisation: London Barndance Company
source: events/uk/london_barndance.yaml
- name: Sidmouth Folk Festival
links:
- "https://sidmouthfolkfestival.co.uk/"
start_date: 2025-08-01
end_date: 2025-08-08
country: UK
city: Sidmouth
styles:
- e-ceilidh
- contra
- ecd
- scd
- balfolk
- scandi
- irish-set
- ceili
workshop: true
social: true
bands:
- Alex Cumming & Audrey Jaber
- Box of Frogs
- Confluence
- Contrasaurus
- Paul Hutchinson & Matt Norman
- Oscina
- WillPower
callers:
- Brian Stanton
- Carol Monaghan
- Kevin Monaghan
- Louise Siddons
- Rachel Shapiro-Wallace
- Rhodri Davies
price: £320-£495
organisation: Sidmouth Folk Festival
source: events/uk/sidmouth.yaml
- name: Harrogate Contra
links:
- "http://harrogatecontra.org.uk/events.html"
start: "2025-10-18T19:30:00+01:00"
end: "2025-10-18T22:30:00+01:00"
country: UK
city: Harrogate
styles:
- contra
workshop: false
social: true
bands:
- Linda & Philip
callers:
- Louise Siddons
price: £6-£10
organisation: Harrogate Contra
source: events/uk/harrogate_contra.yaml
- name: Leeds Contra
links:
- "http://www.leedscontra.freeuk.com/specialevents.html"
start: "2025-11-01T19:30:00+00:00"
end: "2025-11-01T23:00:00+00:00"
country: UK
city: Leeds
styles:
- contra
workshop: false
social: true
bands:
- Box of Frogs
callers:
- Louise Siddons
price: £12
organisation: Leeds Contra
source: events/uk/leeds_contra.yaml