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whitehawk family festival 2005

Chris had promised to run an Indian Head massage stall at the Whitehawk family festival in Brighton, on Saturday 11 June, and I volunteered to assist her.

After the initial panic to get ready - including throwing a blackboard, dining room chair, garden table, and my portable CD player in the car, we left at the exact time we should have arrived. After a surprisingly relaxing drive to Whitehawk, through green-dappled lanes under blue skies, we found a parking space in the shade, only yards from the entrance. Many stalls were still setting up, so we unloaded the contents of the car onto a commandeered ASDA trolley lurking in the undergrowth, and proceeded to our pitch.

I unpacked the gazebo, laying out the individually-numbered poles, and various other strangely-shaped plastic pieces. The last step before assembly started was to check all the pieces were there. "Chris," I said, "where is the cover?" Yes, it seemed, the gazebo came in two bags, and the whereabouts of the other one was unknown.

A few days earlier, we had spied a folding gazebo in Focus, and thought it looked much easier to set up than the conventional multi-piece jigsaws. I was dispatched to Hove to buy it, so headed across Saturday morning grid-locked Brighton. Nearly ninety minutes later, I returned with the last gazebo in the shop, but got a shock when I unpacked it. It had obviously been used, and had been seriously damaged. The bag was ripped, the metal framing was bent and twisted, and there were grass stains over the awning. I was not impressed - but subsequently managed to return it and buy a replacement from the Burgess Hill branch later that day. Making the most of things, we were able to erect it, albeit somewhat drunkenly - the gazebo, that is.

By this time, Chris had already given treatments to several grateful clients, and she got no breaks for the next three hours until the Festival closed. Although she had pitched the taster sessions at three pounds for ten minutes, the lucky recipients got nearer twenty minutes each - a real bargain.

Whilst Chris was working, I wandered around the rest of the festival, and there was plenty to see.

I looked at the fun dog show, including classes for dog most like its owner, and a sausage and cake race. It was a far cry from the rather more serious shows I attended twenty years earlier with my first wife and our four English Setters. The calling of the different classes, the barking of the dogs, and the barked commands of their owners, took me back decades, the pain of the subsequent desertion now replaced by nostalgic remembrances.

On to the Whitehawk Inn stall, and I chatted about their courses. I was very interested in a course on using Flash on the web, but I'm looking after my children on half the dates. I may attend the taster session. We also talked about the holistic courses they run, and I mentioned Chris was running an Indian head massage stall. "Chris Kavanagh?" they inquired. "She's running the Reflexology course!" Small world.

As I wandered around, I smelt incense several times, and wondered what wacky stall was burning it. I finally found it - a vicar was playing simple card and board games. Given my antipathy to organised religion, I moved on.

I found a variant on a coconut shy, but instead of coconuts, there was fruit, and I wandered off a few minutes later, clutching a free banana.

The Whitehawk health stall was also giving advice on drugs, but I confess that my drugs awareness training to my children lies more in the direction of "It's not a good idea and can have dire consequences", rather than giving a crash course on the best way to tell 'blow' from 'skank', or whatever.

The stand next to our gazebo was handing out leaflets on child support issues, giving out leaflets on ways and techniques to replace smacking, and stress-relief for parents. I gratefully took a couple of leaflets to peruse later, and a free cake (sadly not sugar-free).

I was able to get some alternative stress relief, throwing sponges at a 'miscreant' in the stocks. Mind you, at fifty pence for three sponges, he was making a handy profit. It's a sad reflection on life that you can get more money making a fool of yourself than by performing a service in the community - such as Indian head massage. In a world where so-called 'celebrities' and rock stars earn hundreds or thousands of times more than teachers or nurses, I suppose it's not that surprising.

Wandering again, I saw the Green Gym, a new approach to creating healthier communities and a better environment. Instead of working out in a gym, you can get fitter by helping in practical conservation activities such as planting hedges, creating wildlife gardens, or improving footpaths.

Also in attendance was the Wide Horizons travelling farm, with pigs, donkeys, goats and other smaller animals and birds. They seemed happy and were a popular attraction. They go round schools and nurseries, and can even be booked to appear at children's parties.

An informal and popular attraction was the circus skills performers. They had a succession of children and adults spinning poi's and plates, riding unicycles, juggling and stilt-walking.

Overall, it was an enjoyable day out, and we returned home, tired but pleased everything had worked out in the end.

updated Tue 14 Jun '05   give feedback...

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: : © Mike Bliss 2009