…So the weekend started out a tad disappointing, as I was one of the thousands who ended up sharing that trending hashtag: #nokatebushtickets on Twitter. It soon improved, as I joined my fellow Fellside Singers as one of the ‘turns’ for Kendal Food Festival - billed as ‘Taste the best of the North Country’ : - and it had stopped raining. What’s not to like? We Fellside Singers like a bit of a ‘sing’ outside - flash-mob type approach, and we gathered, menacingly, dressed in black and purple, (more mooch than mob, it has to be said) in the Market Square, for a 25 minute set on the unsuspecting food-lovers of Kendal. The unpredictability of singing outside gets your heart racing a bit - lippy kids start dancing and pulling faces at you, shoppers can barge right in front of you; totally ignoring your director; everyone’s chatting and shouting, trying to put us off, or make someone laugh by a cheeky dance in front of us; and on the last number I looked behind me and had a bloke stood right up close and personal on my right shoulder, staring and listening intently. Little bit scary has to be said....But the show must go on. We bowed to the crowd, and even got a nice applause and a few cheers after ‘Shosholoza’ one of our South African numbers.
So we all went our separate ways into the Food festival - still buzzing at bit, adrenaline flowing, working our way up and down the stalls. What a Great Day (also one of our songs…ahem) The Cumbrian Whisky samples went down rather well, soothing the throat and calming the nerves; the coffee and cake swiftly followed - a welcome sugar and caffeine boost. Off then for an excuse for more food and drink - tastings, temptations, music and entertainment followed, from traditional pie-stall with exquisitely hand-made offerings; to spicy scented curries wafting through the air, to offerings from the pungent cheese stalls, with oils, vinegars and pickles to mix and match. We sat down for a breather in the fair-trade fresh coffee stall, making free coffees for donations to water charities and chatted to Richard - our fantastic town crier who’d been bringing the Festival to life by announcing all sorts of activity going on up and down the high street. We watched a bit of drama at the Birdcage; bought far too much bread from all the excellent artisan bread stalls (what's that about Wool is my Bread? both are definitely a habit-forming weakness for me..…) we had a lovely pleasure of bumping into old friends we hadn’t seen for ages, whilst we checked out the livestock - a great reminder of all the farming heritage we are so lucky to enjoy in this part of the world - assorted sheep, lambs and cattle and chicks and a few friendly dogs. We watched a comedy routine who turned out to be local chefs but were more like a Peter Kay double act; and then wandered off happily in the sunshine along the river down to K Village to pick up the car, with bags full of all sorts of goodies.
As we drove back home I put the radio on and Kate Bush was singing…then struck the next brainwave, maybe the Brewery or Rheged would live-stream one of her concerts - second best thing to being there and we don’t even have to go out of Cumbria ?!! Either that or we Fellside Singers could have a go at Wuthering Heights? Now, that would call for a bit of a gargle with the whisky....
