Festival Chronicle

That Kate Humble and Springwatch, lovely and sweet, or maybe forthright and controversial as a full house tonight at the Swindon Arts Centre found out. Opinionated and funny from the moment she took to the stage, Humble engaged the audience with evidence based viewpoints and an insight into the steely sense of purpose that has seen her become such a respected and arresting performer. Her comfort with the unexpected was soon tested as some newly hatched ducks from Lower Shaw Farm briefly shared the stage with the BBC star. Typically there was nothing to faze Kate as she eagerly clutched one of the birds to her chest and commenced her interview with Matt Holland. A serious, considered speaker, Humble covered a range of topics from visiting apartheid blighted South Africa in the late 80’s to ‘see for herself’ to the scientific case against a badger cull. Even a saucy secret about the remarkable size of barnacle privates was shared with an audience eager to hear her nuggets of wisdom. Talking about her new book ‘Humble by Nature’, the conservationist presented a passionate case for the protection of the countryside by making every inch of it work. Humble argued that eco-systems now need to be managed because human beings have modified their environment so much. Honouring the literary aspect of the festival, Kate also reminisced about falling in love with the poetry of e e cummings at school only to be told by a teacher to stick to the study of George Crabbe, a far less attractive proposition in her opinion. With her hour on stage rushing by it was left for Humble to provide further surprises via Devizes and a naughty Limerick which made me regret that she had chosen not to settle in Wiltshire permanently, preferring Wye Valley sheep to Madonna’s country estate.

Jason Maverick, Swindon Festival of Literature 2013

The 20th Swindon Festival of Literature is underway and in spectacular style! A perfect morning at Lawn Woods saw Festival Director Matt Holland crack open a bottle of champagne to celebrate the beginning of the third decade of Swindon’s number one arts event. Recent years have brought as many shivers as smiles to the Dawn Chorus, but today early rising festival-goers were treated to blue skies, golden sun and a very early taste of what this years festival has to offer. Swindon Scratch Choir’ s Sun Arise Singers softly sang the sun up at 5.30am as Jake the Juggler and bagpipe man Danny serenaded the large crowd. Folically challenged poet Jason Maverick started proceedings proper with verse, mime, juggling, plenty of audience participation and a poem about turning into his Dad (but not his Mum).  Music Alive brought strings and haunting sounds to the woods and Storyteller Chris Park told a tale of thanks before human statue Andria Walton shared Shakespeare with us. Poetry annual Domestic Cherry 3 was also launched by its fragrant founder Mabel Watson.  A madcap finale saw Marky Jay build a two man human pyramid to juggle machetes from the top of, sadly for Marky one half of the pyramid was the notoriously unreliable Barry Dicks of the aforementioned Domestic Cherry, causing an event which had started so beautifully to end as an ugly heap in front of a glorious sunset over Swindon.