Stories for the Food Fayre
With my pockets stuffed with Foodie Themed Tales I travelled across the border last weekend to Melksham, Wiltshire for their increasingly popular Food and Drink Festival.
It was chilly but the weather turned out drier than that forecast, luckily avoiding the deluge that struck other parts of the country!
Tucked away under the most beautiful tree in the grounds of the Assembly Hall I set up an inviting space for families to enjoy a smorgasboard of delicious stories.
The children picked which pocket they wanted from my belt, thus choosing the story, but it was no surprise to me how it was more the stories that chose them. Especially for one delighted little boy when he unknowingly picked "The Magic Porridge Pot" and yes, he just so happened to be a porridge lover, at its best with Honey on top - just like the little girl in the story.
Another tale that went down well was that of The Three Wishes, also known as 'Sausage Nose' when one of the characters ends up with a string of sausages magically attached to their face. It caused much laughter and I hope they will recall it when they next sit down to Bangers and Mash. I hope they don't get told off for playing with their food as a result!
I think that many families were surprised to see I had no story books, instead telling from my heart and my head. Yet they were well pleased with their first experience of this. And in true oral tradition though I told the story of "The Talking Carrot" many times throughout the day it never came out quite the same twice.
The festival itself was well attended but it was a bit cold for sitting around, maybe I should have entered the popular chilli eating competition to warm myself up... but then again looking at the green faces of those who did I was safer sticking to my Storytelling.
It was a great day, well organised by Pam and her team, I hope by now they have recovered from all their hard work and look forward to see them again another time.
