For the better part of the past 120 years, hockey festivals have been one of the most important elements of the hockey calendar. Sadly, they are now almost extinct with only a few remaining. What is more, with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have completely lost two years of this activity.

We first mentioned festivals in our December 2019 newsletter and were pleasantly surprised by the number of contacts we received. Three volunteers have stepped forward to help develop a study on this important topic: Steve Lemottee from Nottingham, Mike Carter of the Torbay Festival and Ian Smith, the Hampstead HC archivist.

Following deliberations with The Hockey Museum's Curator, we now have a spreadsheet of over 180 events, mostly annual, of festivals, tournaments and 6 and 7-a-side events. We are including events for clubs, touring teams and schools. Do please have a look at the list and see if you can add any information – there are lots of gaps and missing information.

Download and view the spreadsheet by clicking the Excel icon. The spreadsheet comprises two sheets: "Introduction" and "Full LIst". You can navigate between these using the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

Although the museum already holds many festival programmes, team pennants and trophies, we are looking for memorabilia that relates to ‘festival going’. That may not include the eight-foot-long hotel name board that was taken by Folkestone festival participants many years ago and deposited in the Left Luggage Office at Victoria Station!

We are also very keen to receive anecdotes of ‘festival going’ that will help to build up the rich tapestry of festival life. Please email us via our website contact page. If you can tell us anything about this subject do please let us know.