I love Easter. I love that it is a celebration but yet so much more low key than Christmas. I love that it happens in Autumn, when Canberra is in technicolour landscape mode. I love the chocolate, the lazing around, the longish break from work. It is all-round good. This year I didn't manage to stitch any small felt objects for the kids. Sigh. I had plans and had dragged out patterns and books and gathered supplies but they just kind of sat in the loungeroom. Somethings just aren't meant to be.
But what we did do, was rediscover the National Folk Festival. We used to go prior to having children, and then we went once in 1999 when our first born was 2 but I must have found it overwhelming. Perhaps back then there wasn't childcare available, or if there was, I wasn't interested in leaving my toddler with strangers, or remembering back to that toddler maybe he wasn't interested in staying with strangers...anyway, we took a long hiatus. Last year in 2010, we went back and spent a fantastic day with the whole family and bumped into friends, work colleagues and acquaintances, heard great music, ate fantastic food, enjoyed each other's company and vowed to make it a regular event. The kids were very ready for this world and wanted to spend more than one day there this year. Unfortunately, this also wasn't meant to be. We've got a range of family commitments this Easter that prevented us spending more than one day. But still, one day was fantastic.
These are the felt wallets that came in the lucky dip from the Canberra feltmakers stall. Tess kept one and gave me the other. In preparation for the Festival, Tess had done jobs around the house for about a week to earn extra pocketmoney. It worked well for both of us, she had her own money and so there were not so many negotiations. Though I did need to spend reasonably long periods waiting for her to make her selections. Still, way better than nagging and grumps.
We hung out together because we wanted to check out the stalls. The boys went straight to music venues. For us - Canberra feltmakers was a highlight as was the wool clothing, the artistic paper folded botanical specimens under bell jars, the Nepalese felt stall, and the South American Llama stall. Last year we hadn't anticipated the chill that descends in the afternoon, that morphs into deep cold by the evening, so the vague member of the family, who came without warm clothes, purchased a beautifully soft jumper. We were all very happy to cuddle up to him. This year I bought both children an amazing, knitted, zip up jacket, which is lined with fleece. Very warm. The teenage son's one is significantly more modest than this colourful bird. The gloves were from the same stall - the Nepalese Felt stall, but again, purchased with her own money.
After our purchases, we tried to enrol for the feltmaking session from 1:00pm-2:30pm but it was all full. When I asked how early would we have to sign up, the volunteer replied "on Thursday". Oops not quite that organised! Still it is free and all. She encouraged us to drop back later "just in case" and when we went back later and looked over their shoulders, they were doing amazing things with felt.
After all this, we were both ready for a sit down, some lunch and some music. I spent the afternoon at the Troubador sitting outside, drinking coopers, with the sun warming my back, listening to a range of eclectic folk music from Australian performers, much of which included fiddle (yay, love a bit of fiddle). It was wonderful to just sit and unwind and be in the moment and surrounded by the music and to periodically watch the crowds. I had nowhere else to be. Later in the day, we moved between the Flute and Fiddle, the Budawang, the Marquee and the dancefloor. I love the dancefloor. This hit a chord with us last year and I was very keen to do it again. My son had been given a Mbira from my brother, who is a bit of whiz at this instrument, and had spent a bit of time in Zimbabwe learning how to play. So last year, we were keen to do a workshop with Fabio Chivanda – Mbira player , and as he was playing a dance set in the early evening, we went to that as well. Boy, was that exciting. The beat, the crowd, the dancing, the ages from 8-80 all doin' their thing, the safety, the joy. I loved it. So, this year, we made a beeline to the Piazza and joined the crowds enjoying Afro Mandinko.
We were putty in their hands with the beat..waiting...
Here's my brother's mbira playing. It's more folky than the rollicking dancefloor above.
