Key findings from the two year AHRC funded research project, "Performing Englishness in New English Folk Music and Dance", undertaken by Dr Trish Winter and BFE member Dr Simon Keegan-Phipps at the University of Sunderland Centre for Research in Media and Cultural Studies, were presented on Tuesday 19th January to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Folk Arts at Westminster. An invited audience of MPs, scholars and peers heard central conclusions from the project's closing report:

"Over the last ten years there has been a resurgence of interest in the English folk arts with new artists exploring their English heritage of tunes, songs and dances, and established artists finding new audiences. In addition folk festivals in England, such as Towersey Village Festival, are experiencing great popularity. Whilst grass roots involvement in folk flourishes, a developing folk industry is also playing a central role. At a time when processes like devolution and globalization are prompting debate about English identity, the folk arts are increasingly significant as a place for the negotiation of new English identities that both celebrate English cultural traditions and embrace the diversity of Britain's multicultural present. The English folk arts are politically contested. The BNP have shown an interest in using the folk arts for the furthering of a nationalist agenda, but the emergent campaign Folk Against Fascism has acted as a focus for English folk artists' resistance to this, demonstrating that the English folk scene values an inclusive ideology. The report suggests that, as interest in English identity continues to grow, a clear understanding and backing of the contemporary folk arts among policy makers and the media may also assist in avoiding their appropriation by the far-right."

The presentation was followed by a round table discussion chaired by the All Party Group's chairman, John Battle MP, who confirmed that he would pass the project's closing report to the respective offices of the Home Secretary and Culture Secretary. The report, along with more information about the project and the researchers, is available from the project's blog [webmaster updated: see Project Overview on Research Councils UK website). A fuller account of the research findings will appear as a co-authored book by Winter and Keegan-Phipps in 2010-11.