I absolutely love living in Hitchin. We have lived here for 2 years now and I finally feel like I am a ‘local’. One of the best things about living here is the annual festival put on by the town – Rhythms of the World. It is a weekend event but two separate days rather than a stay over in a tent kind of thing.
This year was the first time we have been as a family, every other year it has just been the two if us and so it was quite a different experience for us. I have to say having children makes it an even better day out as there are so many different things to see and do. Obviously those without children enjoy themselves just as much but sitting drinking myself silly just isn’t my cup of tea anymore.
We arrived just after it opened at 11am (I love to be punctual!) and it was empty. This was good as it gave us a chance to have a mooch before the hoards arrived. We headed straight to the family area as Little G had seen a sign for face painting. Most things didn’t open until 12pm though so we did a lap of it all and made a plan.
12pm on the dot we went to the face painting. Little G picked out a Minnie Mouse face and the girl set about doing it. Well, I knew something had gone wrong by her face, she looked positively panic stricken. 15 minutes later and she turned Little G around to show me. All I could say was ‘it doesn’t look like the picture does it?’ I felt awful, they were all volunteers and it was free but honestly it was awful. Just a black and red smudge on her forehead. I knew if she saw herself in the mirror she would have a fit. Thankfully another girl stepped in and re-did it for us, not the best job in the world but after 35 minutes we escaped.
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| Do I look like Minnie mummy? |
Next was Signing Babies, a lovely lady had us all sitting in a circle singing and signing various songs. Mr F walked off with a sleeping Baby L so I don’t have any photos of this but it sounds like a lovely class to take your child to if you fancy a course to keep you busy for a few weeks. I would have liked to take mine along but I hate committing to things. Not having a car means it is guaranteed to rain every week!!
The next thing on our list was the Pirate show, wasn’t entirely sure what it was about but looked like fun. We patiently waited and then they asked if Little G would like to join in. She jumped at the chance to wear a pirate scarf and stood waiting to be told what to do. When it actually came to joining in she bottled it and sat on my lap but enjoyed their performance none the less. Turns out they do birthday events, you can hire them to entertain your kids for the afternoon. They were fun and if you fancy a theme for a party then look them up here.
Little G spotted the bouncy castle and I am a sucker for fun when we go out so paid the £2 for 5 mins. She had it all to herself though which was quite good. Weirdest bouncy castle I have seen though with Take That on the back!
We went into the spiritual garden section, all a bit weird for me but whatever floats people’s boats eh? Here are some of their sculptures. I did like the area by Secret Garden, lots of cushions under a tree for you to sit and relax.
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Mr F was becoming fractious by this point as his friends had turned up. He wanted to go sit with them so we headed off to find them. He is from Hitchin originally so they all use the event as a yearly meetup of the old ‘gang’. We found them by the loudest speaker ever- thanks guys- and settled down for a picnic.
The music is, as you may have guessed, from all around the world. No famous bands, just good music that is a good background for good company and a great atmosphere. There was however, some guy that was on The Voice last year that lots of people were pretty excited by! He was ok, nothing amazing but he is local so you have to support him I guess. Not sure I would be screaming out his name or putting up a poster mind you.
I only ever last as long as my bladder can stand, I refuse to use portaloos as they are the grimmest of the grim! I am definitely not going to be subjecting my girls to them either- they are far too young to be catching yucky diseases from those germ ridden sess pits! That is the main reason I have never gone to Glastonbury or other such festivals, there is no way I could cope. At least here I know I have a 15 minute walk home to a civilised loo!
Mr F stayed out until it ended at midnight, I know from experience that it is great once the sun goes down. One year they released hundreds of lanterns into the sky which was amazing (probably landed and set fire to someones shed somewhere haha!)
Anyway, if you are ever on the lookout for something to do in the summer holidays then check it out. Look out for us, we will be there every year I would imagine!