sunday 28 october. it was cold and ulitmately wet, but that doesn't matter right now.
the celebrations were centred on the belper river gardens where various activities informative stalls and folk friendzy entertained.
with some friends we took in the wool based activities in the north mill. i sat down next to a lady i'd never met before and within moments i was making a pom pom and having a really lovely chat with her.
folk friendzy's second performance of the day was in the river gardens near the swiss tea rooms. braving the rain we strode out into the gardens to discover the troupe in the bandstand. despite the rain they were still going to perform.
something then quite unexpected happened. a lady in a green top arrived and we were hastily introduced to her and she started into a monologue about her dad and the east mill. i think the lady is an actress from belper, possibly last seen in belper at the short play festival.
her piece began as a quite lovely account of things to do with the mill and working there.
as it progressed it twisted and turned and became about contemporary community and use of cars. i noted that the piece was telling us that people don't form into community so often now as it had been in the past. something that i thought was a little misplaced with folk friendzy as an audience as they effortlessly promote community. the performance continued and finished.
we then watched the girls adapt their dances to the band stand. the rain poured down and under cover i watched the dance out develop a special atmosphere from seeing something that hadn't been intended to happen. well done to all involved.
annually the museum has a special halloween event at which the belper based dance troup perform.
the added attraction of the event is the chance to to have a ride on a vintage tram. the trams run all afternoon and into the evening.
i've watched the group at previous dance outs and this one is a particular favourite for the girls as they get to dress up in the halloween theme.
the first dance took place with the back drop of a low sun. helped along by a rum infused hot chocolate we stood and watched the girls smile their way through a series of routines. it was particularly excellent to hear the time warp again. in the second set i teamed up with another member of the audience to dance along with it. i enjoyed that very much and when invited to participate in a group dance, took the opportunity to and throughly enjoyed myself.
after the last set we took a ride on a tram. we sat upstairs and the conductor was perfectly in character, which made us all laugh. the tram rattled and shook it's way along the line and i loved it.
i really like how folk friendzy bring people together and give opportunities to the girls of belper and surrounding area to rehearse and perform at interesting public events.
having never ventured into the museum before i was a little unsure about what to expect. it's a really lovely place and i think i need to go back there in the summer to ride on the tram in the light to see the views and to walk through the grounds.
