About African Beats camp

African Beats Camp has been put together by a group of African drumming, dance and music enthusiasts. We have been travelling to camps and courses in the UK and Africa for many years and are organising this small camp in order to provide an environment where you can develop your skills with like-minded people and enjoy wonderful evenings of African music and dance.

We hope you’d like to come!

The ABC Organisers Team
(Justine, Nigel, Peter, Rosie, Tanya and Victoria, Mike)

When and where

Camerton Recreation Centre, Camerton Nr Bath
Arrive pm Tuesday 25th August, depart am Monday 31st August

Who can attend

African Beats Camp is aimed at experienced players in any form of African drumming, who may also be skilled, or have no experience in other African music, percussion or dance forms.

What we mean by “experienced” is that you have an understanding of the basic techniques and have learnt co-ordination of hands and played African rhythms.

This is an update to previous information posted on this website. How you define yourself is relative to who you play with so we have taken out the word intermediate or beginner.

If you have not done any African Drumming before (or very little), please see FAQ for why this camp may not suitable for you. If you at all unsure, please contact us.

If you are a dancer but not an experienced drummer and you’d like to come, please contact us.

Children and young people are welcome to participate in the adult workshops. However there will not now be any separate kid’s activities. We had previously advertised that we would provide drumming, dance and craft workshops for children and young people but unfortunately we have not sold enough of these tickets.

Workshops

There is a maximum number of spaces per workshop to prevent overcrowding.

Morning workshops (10am - 12.30am) are four-day courses i.e. you will choose one type of workshop to do over four days. These will be booked in advance of the event via the ABC Booking Form.

Afternoon workshops (2pm - 3.30pm and 4pm - 5.30pm) are two-day courses. For example you could do Seruba followed by African Dance on both Weds and Thurs. Sign up on Tues - for Weds / Thurs workshops. Sign up on Fri - for Sat / Sun workshops.

To see what workshops are available for the morning and afternoon sessions, please see “Teachers”

Friday will be a day off from the usual workshop schedule with drum-skinning/tuning demonstrations, African cooking demonstrations and a Baka singing workshop with Su Hart from Baka Beyond. Everyone can watch and participate, or chill out, or jam with friends.

During Friday afternoon, we are inviting our neighbours i.e. those living around Camerton Recreation Centre, to come and see what the camp is all about.

Djembe levels

Djembe players will be split into 4 levels on Tuesday 25 August by the teachers. This means you may not get your teacher preference but enables playing at a level that suits your ability, with evenly spread class sizes.
Each Djembe group will attend workshops with one teacher for 2 days, and another teacher for 2 days. See FAQ for further information about how the 4 Djembe levels will be organised.

Evening Performances

Evening entertainment throughout the week with performances by participant groups and teachers. If your group would like to perform, please let us know a.s.a.p.

On Friday evening, Baka Beyond, the original African Celtic crossover will be playing!!

Camping

Free camping, indoor toilets and indoor (basic) showers.
We are limited on space, so please consider this when deciding to bring your tent mansion!
Car and vehicle parking space is also tight. There maybe adjacent fields we can use but this depends on hay harvesting and rainfall. So be prepared!

Bed & Breakfast

Here is a list of B&B’s around the area if you don’t want to camp:

Radford Mill Farm http://www.radfordmillfarm.co.uk offers dormitory accommodation for only £15 a night (including a simple breakfast). You’ll also be really interested in the activities and events going on there during the year!

The Old Malthouse Radford. http://www.oldmalthouse.co.uk 01761 470106
£60 single £75 - £ 90 double

Jenga Lodge Farnborough http://www.jengalodge.co.uk 01761 471089
20% off their twin room for 6 nights

Breaconridge B&B Camerton http:// www.breconridgebandb.com 01761 470 291

King William 01761 470408

Food / Bar

Cafe serving European and African food. Proper pub-style bar!