The International Pipe and Tabor Festival has its origins in 1999. Stephen Rowley was asked by Gloucester Folk Museum to examine a number of instruments in their collection. This included two bone pipes and an important wooden pipe from Chipping Campden.
Steve then organised a Pipe and Tabor Study Day and a Performance Day some weeks later. It was the first massed gathering of taborers in many years.
The following year saw the 1st International Pipe and Tabor festival. A five day event, which started with a performance at Millenium Dome, then a study day in Oxford museums, and a visit to the village of Bucknell, where the last 19th century morris taborer lived. There followed a symposium and two days of workshops and performance.
Since then the festival has continued annually (almost) and visited Stroud, York, St Albans, Lichfield, Gloucester, Stony Stratford, Stratford-upon-Avon and Grantham. Peterborough awaits in 2025.
Here are summary reports of the International Pipe and Tabor Festivals held since The Taborers Society was formed in 2005.