Category Archives: Lakes Alive

Knaresborough Feva & Mintfest, Kendal 2013!

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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You’ve doubtless noticed that I have been rather quiet on the blog front for a while so here’s an update on what I’ve been up to!

I had a smashing time doing “Jabberwocky!” at Knaresborough Feva 2013 which was really well organised and had large and enthusiastic audiences.  They were so enthusiastic that they were all gathered and waiting for me to begin every time I came out!

CLICK HERE to see photo’s the organisers took on their Facebook page.

We were very pleased to give our mechanical horse an airing at Lakes Alive event “Mintfest” in Kendal.  Followers of this blog will know that “Fred Fettler’s “Pony 3000” – The Transport of the Future!” show was commissioned last year for the “My Last CARnival” event in High Bentham.  CLICK HERE to see earlier posts showing the making & design process.

Below are photo’s that Tim Austin (who plays Fred Fettler) took at Mintfest, including the fabulous Firework display by Pa Boom on the Sunday evening.  This and Richard Dedomenici’s “Redux – Dawn of the Dead” were the only things we got to watch ourselves this year as we were too busy performing!  A section from the film Dawn of the Dead was recreated with local people playing Zombies etc. by Richard at the Westmorland Shopping Centre and screened there on the Sunday evening.  You can see the video at the bottom this post.

In between we also caught a bit of a fabulous band called “Dublin 2 Delhi” outside the Brewery Arts Centre.

Be warned the video below contains violence and gore so is not suitable for little kids, (though one of the zombies is played by a lad of about 11!)

Look out London,….Here I come!!!

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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If you have been wondering if I’ve fallen down a deep well for the last few weeks, due to the lack of fresh news on my blog, then you’d be wrong.

What I have in fact been doing, (amongst other things) is making the costumes you see in the photos above.  These are for the “Feast of St. George” GLA Festival.  I shall be doing my “Jabberwocky!” shadow puppet suitcase show in Trafalgar Square on Saturday the 20th of April between 1 and 6pm.  Click HERE for news article.

I will wear the St. George themed costume for this event but the medieval dress costume can be used for performing the “Jabberwocky!” show at any other medieval themed events.  We can also use it for one of the new children’s party ideas we are working on.

This is the first performance I am doing through the street arts agency Continental Drifts and also my first performance in London.  It will be interesting to see how (if at all) the London audiences differ from audiences elsewhere in the country.  I was very amused, when I was in London once, that a local was puzzled by my Northern accent and asked if I was from Scandinavia!

The “Jabberwocky!” show is, of course, perfect for St. George’s Day because it involves the slaying of a big nasty monster by a brave hero with a sword.  The singing that I do in the show also has the feeling of a medieval folk ballad about it.

The journey is going to be suitably epic as we will be departing from Lancaster by Megabus at 3.20am and arriving back at 2.05am the next day.  It is not as bad as it sounds, because we should be able to have a snooze on the bus.  A gallant knight, (in the form of my husband, Tim) is coming too and will hopefully be able to take some photos during the day.  Wish us luck on our arduous quest!  I shall report back on how it went in my next blog post.

I have also finally got confirmation of what shows we will be doing at Mintfest this year in Kendal.  We are very pleased to be presenting our fabulous “Fred Fettler’s “Pony 3000” – The Transport of the Future!” show.  This was originally commissioned and performed in High Bentham as part of “My Last CARnival” last year.  We will be doing the show on the 31st of August and the 1st of September 2013 there will be more details as and when they become available on the “Where You Can See Me” page.

We shall also be doing a new show for Child Safety Week at the end of June.  We have been doing a lot of negotiations with a publisher to see if we can secure permission to do a show based on a famous modern children’s book and we hope to be able to tell you more about that very soon.