My feet are hurting and I can feel my back, but… I had a fabulous afternoon! Want to know what I did? Well, I’m one of the volunteers at West Norwood Feast and this time I went to as many parts of Feast as possible… and I learned a lot! The theme for today was ‘dancing’, so I first headed for the tango lessons in the Artisans’ area. The teacher came from Argentina and he was so kind as to teach me the first steps of tango dancing. I only stepped on his toes once…
Then I spoke to a fireman at the fire engine at the end of that hub and learned that the fire brigade even rescues animals from time to time! By the way, they will have an Open Day on September 22.
Next stop was a cheese stall outside Beamish and McGlue, the Bath Soft Cheese Company, so I learned a bit more about different sorts of cheese, and tasted some. That was not all, because on the other side of the road there was popcorn freshly made (smells lovely…) and a man was making sugarcane juice by pulling plants through a mangle like my mother used when I was a little girl. I learned that the plants they use grow in Jamaica. Apart from the bread, the tea and the cakes sold to humans, dogs and cats could have their share from ‘Dulwich tails’, ‘for healthy dogs and cats in style’. I think my dog qualifies as such, so I bought her a toy to chew on…
On I went to the Portico Gallery where I was impressed by the artistic creations of the children. Across the road the Retro area had been turned into a dancing floor. There I learned the first steps of the jive, which was great fun. Back to the Food hub in front of St. Luke’s, where on the steps a group of young people, related to the BRIT school, played rock music in quite a professional way. After they had left, another group of young people, called South London Samba, impressed us all with their energetic performance! Alongside you could see young and old swinging…
The children in the Food area made their own little beaches with the help of South Lambeth Play Partners and as usual there were many kids around, which is always lovely to see. I learned about a new charity shop in the Crystal Palace area which had a stall – I was told they try to help homeless people and those having difficulty to pay their rent. Appropriately they call themselves ‘Shelter’.
So yes, I had a fabulous afternoon and I was not the only one. I asked several people what they thought of Feast and these are some of the answers: ‘The children love it! It’s very good!’ ‘It’s great fun!’ ‘We just passed by and thought we’d better stop here…’
For those who like numbers: about 2400-2500 people visited Feast today.
Do join us next month (again)!
Hetty Lalleman