- FolkEast 15-17 August 2025
We had a great time at the wonderful FolkEast. We met loads of old and new friends. It was lovely.
We played for a dance workshop with Kerry Fletcher at 16:45 on Friday 15th and for a Bal at 20:00 on Saturday 16th. Both events were in the Dance Tent.
- We cannot play at Pied à Terre – 3 September 2025
Frank, our gurdy player has COVID. Look out it’s still aound.
- Woodwose 1 Feb 2025
Woodwose (Katy Marchant, Steve Tyler and Nick Wiseman-Ellis) will be playing for a bal at 8:00 pm on Saturday 1 February 2025 at the Wesum Community Centre, Norwich. Come along for a great night’s dancing!
- CANCELLED Xim at Pied à Terre CANCELLED
Sorry to say we’ve had to cancel the gig due to illness.
Wednesday 5th March 2025, Pied à Terre, Canary Club, 104 Thorpe Road, Norwich, NR1 1RT. Tickets are £10 on the door (cash or card). We’ll be playing from about 8:00. - History
Back in 1996 Paddy Shaw, Kate Ross, Nick Carpenter and Frank Vickers got together regularly to test out Paddy’s arrangements for the Massif Village Orchestra (MVO). Paddy, Frank and Frances Watt were organising the MVO for their first performance in January 1997 at FolkBeat in Norwich at St Andrew’s Hall.
Xim was born in 1998 when Paddy and Frank, saw the potential for a new angle on central French dance music. They were looking for an opportunity to write and perform original material with a fresh perspective on groove and instrumentation. Frank and Paddy asked Nick and Kate if they would be interested in the project, and (needless to say) they said yes. Since then the group has been writing and arranging hoards of Mazurkas, Schottisches, Bourrées, Waltzes etc. and performing at festivals, folk clubs, dances and concerts all over the place. In 2023 we welcomed Tess to Xim!
Life
Where and when
Since birth, XiM has forced people onto dance floors at: Sidmouth International Festival of Folk Arts, Ely Folk Festival, Thoresby Park Fest Noz, Lancaster Clocks Back Festival, Bergues Festival (France), Norwich Arts Centre, Reeling in Ealing, Greenpeace Fair (Suffolk), IVFDF (Cambridge), Worstead Festival, King Street Festival (Norwich), Fair on the Green (Diss, Norfolk), Norwich 01 Festival. Concert performances have made people sit up and listen at: Folk in the Fall (London), Towersey Village Folk Festival, The Royal Festival Hall, Hale End Folk Club, Castle Acre Folk Club.Tracks from our album ‘989’ have been played on the airwaves by: ‘Late Junction’ (BBC Radio 3), BBC Radio Norfolk and many other radio stations around the world.
The MVO performed in 1997, 1998 and 1999 at FolkBeat, Sidmouth, Towersey and Beverley Folk Festivals. The music and arrangements for these events can be downloaded by clicking below (please excuse any written comments on the files, they had to be scanned in from used copies):