Eastbourne International Folk Dance Festival has been a fixture on dancers' calendars for many years, but the current committee are not willing to continue and it seemed that the Festival would fold. Now Judith De Witt has come forward as the new Chairman and provided she can get a good team to work with her the Festival will be on a firm footing once more. Judith has not been dancing that long, but she's a real powerhouse and if anyone can do the job, she can. She goes to dance weekends in various parts of England, she was at Pinewoods in The States last year, she's the Chairman of the Friends of Cecil Sharp House, she was heavily involved in the recent formation of the Camden Folk Dance Group, and I'm sure she's done many other things that I know nothing about! I've volunteered to take over the website, and as soon as I get access to it I'll put up my new version. At the moment it's still this year's version, and it's at http://www.eiff.org.uk/ Judith is very keen on training, as am I, so in addition to the usual variety of workshops and dances there will be a separate track for callers who want to learn how to do their job better. I know this has worked very well at Pinewoods, and it's about time we tried it in England. I'm sure Judith will be looking for people to help both before and during the Festival, which will be the first May Bank Holiday Weekend, 3rd - 6th May 2019, and you'll be able to contact her via the website once things are a bit more settled. Just in case you don't know, Eastbourne is a seaside resort on the south coast of England, so there's a wide variety of accommodation available. See you all there! Colin Hume Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://colinhume.com