Troublemakers’ Festival Swansea 2017

 

 

I wish it could go on for another day…..

We visited the #Troublemakers’ Festival at High Street Swansea yesterday afternoon. The unrelenting drizzle did not damped the smiles and the good humour of the volunteers.  Indoors at Volcano there was plenty of protest-poster making, poetry, song and cake. Upstairs at the Elysium Galleries local artists gave tours of their work places. We marvelled at the order of Eifion Sven-Mayer’s space (as well as his talent as an artist) and he was very generous with his time, as was Tansy Rees and Konstantinos Grigoriades. There are many, many very talented people in Swansea.

 

Sunday, it was a lot drier, thankfully. I spent the morning volunteering at the “Unfair Funfair” – a Swansea Oxfam initiative to highlight the benefits of Fair Trade. I loved the way how the children pitched right in and played, despite the fact that they realised quite soon on that all the games were fixed and they could not “win” any of them!!! Happily there were no complaints and some chocolate and stickers distributed. I enjoyed the festival as a visitor yesterday, but it was much more fun as a volunteer, as I got to interact with so many more people; the toddlers who keen to try to knock over the cans on “Tin Can’t Alley”, the teenagers who had come to use the skate board ramps and the adults, some passing on their way to train station, others who had come for the art and theatre.  Mark Stephenson’s #Tag my ride was another popular attraction. Looking forward to #TroubleMakers’ 2018!