Follycon

Follycon, the 1988 Eastercon, was a defining moment in UK filk. Before that we were little groups huddled in corners late at night, with no official presence. At Follycon we were on the program, and had a filk guest. After Follycon we had regular meetings, a newsletter, our own conventions, and official presence at other conventions.

Gytha was on the Eastercon committee, along with some other filk-friendly people. She arranged for us to have official space for late night singing, and a spot on the programme for a filk concert.

Around Christmas 1987 I got a Solstice card from Gytha with a note "Oh boy are you going to have a surprise come Follycon". I actually found out before the con that she had booked Les Barker as a guest!

At the convention we decided to hold a writing workshop to write a song for all of us to sing at the filk concert. I will let Rhodri describe what happened next.