Wrington Web Archive Butcombe Arts Festival 9th - 11th May, 2008

	Some of the events at the first Butcombe Arts Festival, held from Thursday, 8th - Sunday, 11th May.                                                 Photos kindly supplied by Max Milward
			The three-day Butcombe Arts Festival was ambitious and great fun. With the sun shining throughout the whole weekend, every event went extremely well and those who organised it and everyone who took part enjoyed themselves.
		Workshops in people's homes were some of the highlights: we had the choices of poetry writing, writing about your life, making icing flowers to decorate cakes, book binding, Morris dancing and the drop-in art workshop. And the Art Exhibition in the Church revealed many creative Village talents. The Village Hall was the venue for a very energetic, entertaining Barn Dance on Friday evening and also for the well received, sell-out Show on Saturday evening. Two guided walks on Butcombe's flora and history were much enjoyed and on Saturday afternoon Festival goers were revived with tea and cakes in a lovely garden. A Soup Lunch on Sunday provided a pleasant chance to relax and chat, as did the Picnic at the end of the day complete with a band, poems and the workshop Morris dancing group. Even then the sun did not desert us and the Picnic was a great finale to the weekend. There are still copies of the publication Butcombe Voices available at £3; a unique collection of memories and impressions of the Village. If you would like to buy a copy please contact Tricia Barke on 01761 462740. Throughout the weekend, Jon Ryder very kindly offered his photographic skills to capture many Festival moments. His collection, together with photos of the Barn Dance and Show by Jacquie Banks, can be found and prints ordered at http://web.mac.com/jon.t.ryder Profits had been committed to two good causes – the Village Hall and the Friendship Clinic in Nepal. At the moment we are able to give cheques to both causes, each receiving £400 and our contributions are expected to go up a bit as other receipts come in. The Friendship Clinic in Nepal is a charity started by a Bristolian who came to talk to the Butcombe Evening Group about its work. The Clinic is run entirely by local people and provides the only medical service in the area in Nepal and saves many lives as well as improving health. Financial support is critical to its continuing work. The Festival, much appreciated by people who came, involved very many members of our community to make it such a great success.