On Saturday afternoon, having got all the boring stuff like homework and grocery shopping out of the way in the morning, we set off for what we thought was a parcour event in our local town. We had no idea what it would be like but had heard about it from someone at The Bavarian’s work. She thought the boys might enjoy it. In the end, we all did.
I’ve never been much of a festival goer but yesterday ended up being a nice litte taster for me. It turned out that parcour was only one of the activities on offer and that it was actually a small one-day festival called Mashody we were at. There was music, food, activities for kids and plenty of space to sit and chill with a drink in hand.
Unfortunately the parcour was only open to the over 8 year olds, but Number One and Number Two were mesmerised by the sommersaults and jumps going on and didn’t seem too bothered that they were not allowed to join in.
What also caught their attention big time was the freestyle spray painting. This was open to all, so the boys and I had a go. Number One seem to be a natural, even though he’s not the most artistic when it comes to crayons and paper. He spent ages spraying with different colours, watching how the older guys shook and held the can and he tried a few techniques of his own invention. He managed to spray a frying pan with a fried egg on it – on purpose I might add – within ten minutes of picking up a can of spray paint and went on to spray some kind of alien figure. Like any great artist, he had to add his signature too.
Number Two was a bit shy of the spray painting at first but gave it a go too. He was more keen on mixing colours than on making a picture, but I took a close up of his efforts so that I can have it printed for him. In the right frame, it could look pretty cool. While I’m not sure how I feel about the new found love of graffiti yet, I did enjoy watching how conccentrated and focussed they were while they worked.
Being the chair addict that I am, the pallet furniture dotted round in front of the stage was a highlight for me. It looks so easy to re-create that I had to take some photos. Now all I have to do is wait till I find some pallets.
There was one thing really took me by surprise. In the midst of all the street style activity and chill out music there was a small stall selling coffee and cake. I popped over for a look and saw the most delicious looking marzipan gateau, which I then ordered and ate. It had three thin sponge layers with a thin layer of marzipan and some chocolate buttercream in between and was topped with another thin layer of marzipan. The outside was spread with chocolate buttercream and then covered in chocolate sprinkles. I’m going to have to try my own version of this soon. It was absolutely delicious but so at odds with the surroundings and the vibe.
The final bit of inspiration garnered from Mashody was actually The Bavarian’s idea. As well as the pallet furniture, there were tubes from truck tyres scattered around as seating. The Bavarian popped Number Three into the centre of one and so the outdoor playpen was born – just enough room to move around, a good view of the goings on and no escape!
Our afternoon expedition into the unknown was a roaring success. Number Three enjoyed the music and people-watching, I got my coffee and cake fix plus picked up a load of inspiration for new projects, Number One and Number Two learned a new skill in spray painting and The Bavarian got to chill for the whole of a Saturday afternoon. I think we might develop a taste for festivals yet.