Darnhill Festival Swamp Rescue.

by Niki Duthie - Festival Co ordinator

After the school field received ‘swamp status’ on the Wednesday before the festival, decisions had to be quickly made about whether we could go ahead with the Darnhill Festival at all this year. It was clearly impossible to get any vehicles on and off the field, the school weren’t even able to get tractors on to cut the grass!

After the school field received ‘swamp status’ on the Wednesday before the festival, decisions had to be quickly made about whether we could go ahead with the Darnhill Festival at all this year. It was clearly impossible to get any vehicles on and off the field, the school weren’t even able to get tractors on to cut the grass!

We couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing all the children and young people involved so, with support from David Yates, the head teacher at Heywood Community High School and Tina Turnbull, the school’s Community Activity Coordinator, and some deeper digging into the festival purses, we decided to go ahead with the festival, using various areas of hard standing and the school’s sports hall.

Friday night saw a hive of activity, with stages and marquees erected and the sports hall receiving a patchwork carpet treatment to protect the floor. Table plans were quickly redrawn for all the community and charity stalls and areas designated for the circus ring and a corner used as the theatre stage.

Arriving on site Saturday morning to see a newly formed lake around the main stage was heartbreaking, but with a lot of sweeping and the sun desperately trying to help, by the time the PA company arrived they said it was ok to go ahead with the main stage programme for the afternoon.

So we were set, stall holders arrived, some never knowing any different as they had never seen the festival on the field, others who did were just pleased that we were still going ahead. All eyes were to the sky and we were blessed with drying conditions as the morning progressed.

Meanwhile the carnival parade was assembling down at Argyle Parade, children eagerly changing into their colourful costumes and finding their place in the parade. Entertained by Blowjangles and Pete Moser, the Fastest One-Man Band in the World, the excitement and the anticipation grew. This year’s parade had fewer participants than before to allow for more extravagant creations for the parade, the Festival Association worked closely with the artists involved to help create some stunning costumes. Many congratulations to everyone involved with the parade, especially to Jean Compton for Coordinating it all as well as creating two of the carnival trolleys. New additions to the parade this year were Gremlins Crazy Bikes, Jamboree Circus stilt walkers, and Krafty Kev doing some close up magic with the watching crowd.

A 150 strong carnival parade set off with big smiles and lots of percussion noise escorted by Blowjangles at the front and the Fastest One-Man Band at the rear. You all continued smiling and entertaining the crowds, whilst battling the wind and the occasional shower, all the way up to the High School. Once at the High School, you coped with the unfamiliar route through the sports hall and dragged and carried the carnival trolleys over some very rough soggy terrain and you did all this without waking the baby! You arrived on the tennis courts to well-earned applause and you all looked fantastic in your costumes.

The afternoon saw a lovely mix of entertainment both on the tennis courts and at the front of the school with the urban stage, run by Mind on Fire and Sketchcity, featuring local boys HMD. Sketch City worked with people to create large graffiti boards and young people did their own small canvases to take home. An open Mic session got young people up on stage, with the best performing again on the main stage in the late afternoon, including Filza Fawad and HMD.

The main stage entertainment kicked off with Josephine Oniyama, followed by rock music from Tin Griffin, The Times, Joon and Halfside Over, poetry from Write Out Loud, Angolan R&B from Exotic, Musical stories from The Petty Thief, Jazz from Blowjangles with percussion audience participation and dance displays from Castleton Primary, Back o’th’Moss Girls’ Group and Heywood Community High School, who had all worked on pieces for the festival. Supporters sat in the sunshine and cheered everyone on, enjoyed cream teas, a burger or an ice cream, whilst children were busy in the Arts Tent. A team of artists worked with the children to create costume accessories, flags, or other art work to take home. Some experienced riding on some very unusual bikes brought along by Gremlins Cycle Centre, I particularly enjoyed my trip around the site in the hammock bike, very relaxing if a little fast!

The sports hall was busy all afternoon with entertainment from Krafty Kev, Pete Moser, Spiral Dance and Jamboree Circus. Surestart provided a range of activities for the youngest members of the community whilst Creative Kids brought children’s art work to life in the UV Tent. Graham Marsden worked with all ages of children to create beautiful colourful dens that slowly grew into one giant interlinked den by the end of the day.

I really want to thank all who were involved, in whatever way, for all your hard work and enthusiasm in the run up to and during the festival. Everyone’s expectations grow every year and working in partnership with the Festival Association members, together we aim to reach those goals. Whether you have supported the festival financially, with your time or creative energy, I thank you! I was thrilled with how the day turned out given the amount of rearranging we had done in the 72 hours prior to the festival. I would especially like to thank David Yates and his staff for allowing us to use the sports hall and other areas of the school at such short notice. To all the Festival Association members, I thank you for all the time and energy you put in to this year’s festival, both in fundraising and creating costumes to running stalls and the green room for the artists and festival volunteers on the day, we couldn’t deliver your festival with out you. To all the community groups who supported the workshops and to all the participants and performers on the day, thank you and well done to you all.

The festival does get better and bigger each year, and the Festival Association works harder each year, so is eager to welcome new members, if you would like to join, it is open to all who live and work on the Darnhill Estate, please either contact me at Cartwheel or leave you details with Ann at Darnhill library.

See you all next year……Saturday 5th July 2008