Tønder Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary with a gift to all who take an interest in folk and roots music, and in music history generally. The podcast Weekend with Pete is a sound portrait of the American folksinger and environmental and human rights activist Pete Seeger.
The hitherto unpublished recordings will be available in five parts. In 1999, the Swiss radio journalist Jean-Claude Kuner was in Beacon in USA to interview Pete Seeger. It took a whole weekend. At almost 80 years of age, Pete Seeger sang, played guitar, banjo and flute and talked for hours. It was all taped, including Jean-Claude's visit with Pete to an environment project and one of Pete Seeger's then rare concerts.
Pete Seeger sings his own versions of Turn,Turn,Turn, We Shall Overcome and many more. These tapes were shelved for 25 years until Tønder Festival presenter, radio journalist Claus Vittus met Jean-Claude. Claus Vittus, who has previously made podcasts for Tønder Festival, was on the look-out for a suitable gift to all those involved in Tønder Festival's 50th anniversary.
The two prize-winning radio journalists decided, in the light of Pete Seeger's actual appearance at Tønder Festival in 1990, that the Seeger recordings should be podcast in five instalments. The Weekend with Pete podcast is in English and will be freely available to all on the usual podcast platforms.