Joan Crump

Joan is the Director of Hartlepool Folk Festival, which she founded in 2015. She has worked in the cultural sector for over 20 years, including at De Montfort Hall, Leicester Comedy Festival, Loughborough Town Hall and as a lecturer in Arts and Festivals Management at De Montfort University. From 2008 - 2011 She was Artistic and Marketing Director at Sidmouth, the UK's longest-running folk festival. She has co-produced work with SouthBank Centre alongside Jude Kelly OBE and Stewart Lee, developed work with Aldeburgh Music for the Britten Centenary, and collaborated with numerous folk artists on project development.

From 2009 - 2013 she was co-director of Folk Against Fascism, which resisted incursions from the Far Right into British folk culture.