Excited about next weekend? ‘Course you are. And this year, don’t fear, you can anticipate the usual heady mix of local talent doing what they do best, be it singing, cooking, painting, printing, dancing, rockin’ n rollin’, DJing, dressing up, lindy hoppin’, baking, bric-a-brac-ing – and basically bringing out the best in each other.
In addition to the usual two stages of ‘mazing music we’re fleshing out last year’s critically acclaimed Grassy Knoll with more poetry, prose and acoustic performance, a ceilidh band (that’s country dancing to you), duelling harmonicas, and the brilliant Rush-in ballet, who hope to trump their triumphant 2013 debut.
We also want to push the boat out for the younger members of the community. As ever, the ball, paddling and sand pools will be there for the tiny, and the nice people from Playing Out are coming to operate their thing where they let kids play in the street. Brilliant. Then there’s the ace face painter, and some free delicious treats courtesy of Anima e Cuore.
For the bigger kids, the entire editorial team from STRIKE! magazine present Anarchids! (We’re not entirely sure how, but they intend to politicise a variety of sporting disciplines that will keep young bodies fit and young minds active. Revolutionary!)
Alma is always about art, and on this side of things, the legendary Fifth Column T-shirt printing massive (formerly housed in what is now Wahaca) are coming back to do a print-yer-own Alma Street Fair T-shirt stall, contemporary art types Zabludowicz will do something great, and there’ll be classes and workshops in painting, graffiti and other crafty pursuits and, for the first time ever, speed life-drawing. That’s right, a local artist or teacher may well be fast-tracking you into a future career in the arts. Lucrative, eh?
But don’t panic, if this all seems like too much change, rest assured, there’ll still be bargains to be had from the zillions of stalls, plus fine ales, beers and cocktails, and the very best cuisine in the manor, some new, some old favorites. Plus, of course, more cupcakes than you could shake a very big sticky stick at.
Some music if you please? The Dig It Sound System will take the south end of Alma Street on a voyage of sonic discovery from disco to dancehall via do-wop Lindy-hop and we’re only gonna stop…at Skariokie. Oh yes.
Add to that a full roster of acts on the main stage incorporating opera, coral, ethereal electronica, rock, samba, blues, reggae and sweet, sweet soul music – and you should pretty much have what’s known around these parts as A Treat In The Street For Everyone. Oh, and did I mention the raffle, simply the best raffle evarrrr?
