Chippenham came to life at the weekend with a host of street and indoor performances for the latest edition of Fringe February. Naturally, the Our Town group gathered on Saturday morning for the Lyric Walk and to find what else was on offer.
With eleven Belles crowding into Sarah Jane's cafe for preliminary coffee and cake, it was clear keeping together was going to be like herding cats. Luckily Michelle had bought along a copy of the one-page programme (very useful, thank you!), thoughtfully highlighted with the multitude of free events available during the day so everyone could choose which ones appealed to them. She also pointed out the latest postbox topper was up, specially crafted for the weekend, plus the print exhibition at the Museum and the art/craft fair at King Alfred's Hall were worth seeing. Judging by the feedback received later, these recommendations were enjoyed by several Belles, along with the live jazzy jukebox at the Museum and the films + music at the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre. We're also huge fans of Instant Wit!
Michelle's preliminary search for the hidden lyrics on the way to the cafe showed finding them was going to be tough! Clever Charlie Graham-May had not only crafted a wide variety of clues to find, he'd proved an expert at hiding them in plain sight. The collage shows a snapshot of some of the 29 lyrics; it was almost down to 28 on Friday as Elaine confessed she'd almost removed the one hidden at the Museum! Even with a map which vaguely showed where they were on the trail from there to Cousin Norman's, Michelle has only found 23 of them! She bumped into Dinah along the way, and they agreed the trail had got them seeing the everyday in a completely new light.
On-street happenings included the fabulous Disco Litter Queens, dancing of the Morris variety, singing from the Rock Choir, plus living portraits from Rag and Bone Arts which lent a Hogwarts-ish air to the library's windows. The Knatty Knitters were once again live knitting in a window, at the Hub this time. It was lovely to see they'd crafted one of their Valentine hearts for Frankie, the horse often seen on the High Street.
Fringe February continues to go from strength to strength and we look forward to next year!