Crowds Flock to Gostrey Meadow
Despite the ‘un spring like’ weather, crowds flocked to Gostrey Meadow and the Farnham Maltings last Saturday. Both venues were filled with a hive of cultural activities in aid of annual event, Farnham Spring Festival.
Farnham Town Council worked closely with the Farnham Maltings to extend the activities from the Maltings’ premises to provide an ‘open-air’ experience of community culture in the Meadow.
27 arts and crafts stalls aligned the open-plan park, showcasing a range of beautiful and unique products, which included; contemporary jewellery, limited edition photographic artwork, summer clothing, scarves, leather bags, soapstone sculptures, quality greeting cards, woven baskets, handmade mobiles and tealights and plenty of gifts for the home, garden, children and pets.
The Town Mayor, Cllr Lucinda Fleming introduced the three bands who provided musical entertainment in the Town Council’s 1 year old Bandstand, as it was officially opened at last year’s Spring Festival by Cllr Fleming.
Weydon School Band, who have successfully completed three international trips to France, Holland and Germany, launched the event at 11am. Their set included a cover of renowned song ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson. Motown and soul group, twentyfivemiles entertained the audience over lunch and party band Something for the Weekend managed to get the audience strutting their stuff to the likes of Donna Summer’s ‘Hot Stuff’.
Small interludes were also provided by violinist Kai Choi and Patrick Webber who entertained families making use of the Meadow’s playground on his acoustic guitar.
Part of Gostrey Meadow was kept free to host the ‘Performance Area’. Here, local dance groups gave a short demonstration of their work, which included Appalachian Dancing by Bordon based group Knickerbocker Glory, exotic Belly Dancing by Shimmy Café and Swing Dancing, which was provided by The Swing Dance Company who perform in Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex.
Opposite the Performance Area, the Mayor’s Charity Tea Tent, ran by volunteers, Anne Attfield and Ellenor Keeble, provided light refreshments including tea and cakes to the public, whilst a hog roast and paella dishes were available to purchase from local company, Inside Catering.
The Town Mayor commented, “Farnham was a great place to be on Saturday. There was a lovely atmosphere in Gostrey Meadow and it was nice to see so many activities available to visitors and local residents.”
Farnham Town Council’s next event in the calendar is the Music in the Meadow season, which begins on 13th June in Gostrey Meadow. For more information, click here.
