I’ve been writing this blog for almost a year now. We’ve been exploring arts and cultural activities far and wide but I find very little of it happens in our home town. So, when I saw a festival on our doorstep I knew we had to go. Not just to make the most of a cultural activity so close to home but also to show our support with the hope that more will follow.
It’s been a wet, cold, grey few weeks and this weekend was no different. Thing 1 and Thing 2 have had enough of being stuck inside and they’ve been showing this through their behaviour. We have definitely had more temper tantrums than usual. I have also been missing the sun and the opportunity to get out of the house. So, on Saturday, in the cold, wet, grey weather we headed into the High Street for Fringe Feb. I wasn’t too sure if there was much that I could engage with while entertaining two toddlers but it was better than being inside.
I had a friend join us to help out and we started with a bit of performance art in the form of The Department of Complaints. It turned out this was the best place to start as we had a good giggle complaining about the weather while The Things enjoyed collecting stickers. It was a great start to our experience that only got better.
Next we headed in to the High Street. Things 1 and 2 had ditched their pushchair by this point and it was lucky I had an extra pair of hands to help with two toddlers on reins as well as the pushchair. We walked past a dance school who were setting up but The Things were impatient so we moved on. We came across some yarn bombing at the Butter Cross. The Things were exploring the patterns and textures when the music for the dance school began. It was like the Pied Piper had called and they walked straight towards the sound. They were motionless the whole time the children and young people were dancing. They seemed fascinated and gave them a big clap at the end.
We headed from here to the museum. It’s one of our favourite places anyway but I knew there was also an activity inside. After letting Thing 1 and Thing 2 explore their favourite places we found Call of the Page who were sat behind an old typewriter scribing letters. So The Things wrote and sent their first letter. I hope my Mum was surprised to find a typed letter in her letter box a few days later. I took a photo of the letter as a lasting memory.
We missed the Morris dancing in the High Street, the Vinyl and Vintage market and we walked past the unused shop being used as a music venue but didn’t have a chance to pop in. But it didn’t matter. I have learnt that there is a limit to how much time Things 1 and 2 will engage with activities and we had reached it. All of the activities as a whole gave a lovely buzz to our home town on such a dull, grey day and it was lovely to be a part of it.
We ended our afternoons adventure with tea and cake … and a tantrum from Thing 2. Well, they don’t call it the terrible twos for nothing!
I hope the whole festival was well supported. We look forward to enjoying more arts and culture activities so close to home.
The Greatest Showmum 