Here & Now Issue 34 | July 2019

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JOE BUNN’S BARDIC TRIALS
Bunting for the fête
Summer. The peak time for fêtes in
Britain. School fêtes, village fêtes, you
know what I mean.
A COCONUT SHY ON THE GREEN, a drum kit someone’s brought
along that costs 10 quid to have a go on, a tombola where all the
prizes but one are terrible, all soundtracked by the voice of a local
radio presenter who is muffledly announcing that “The knobbly
dog show starts in 10 minutes”. Or maybe you don’t know what I
mean, because I fear that fêtes are going out of vogue. A genuine
fear, because a vital part of my childhood was spent trying to bat
that rat as soon as it came out of the pipe.
Why don’t we modernise the fête, shrink it down from village size,
and start holding ‘Street Fêtes’? The same concept as a fête, only
on one street. There’s a plethora of talent in this town, and this
would be a chance for everyone to show off what they’ve got.
Set up a stall outside your house and flog away. And if you don’t
feel like you’ve got a talent (you do, everybody does) then I’m sure
you’ve got some worthless rubbish you could sell people. One day
for you to lay out your stall, run some fun games, bake some food
to share. If enough streets do it, it could actually become a little
festival. Link them all up, and voila, people are coming to Worthing,
tourism is up, and the Worthingites are making their own money
along the way.
In the Netherlands, 27 April every year is known as Koningsdag,
or the King’s Day. Everyone dresses in orange, and there is a sort
of nationwide flea market, where everyone sells their unwanted
items. I’m proposing we do similar, only we dress in whatever
colour we want, we sell things we’ve made as well, and we do it all
for ourselves.
I implore you Worthing, contact your neighbours, and arrange
some Street Fêtes; you may be surprised at what people in your
street have to offer. It’s our destiny, our meaning...
...our fête. n
Joe Bunn
Ed note: check out July listings for playing out & street parties near you.
40 | July 2019 | HERE & NOW ADVERTISE NOW 01903 686100