#CountryKids at Mintfest 2013 - Part 1 Saturday

One of the fabulous things about living in Kendal is having such an array of festivals. This weekend was Mintfest which is fabulous for the whole family. We scooted and walked to the edge of the town centre and the children got themselves into the front row for the first act of the day:  

Because I forgot to plan ahead I had no idea what was going to happen but it turned out to be a very fun combination of art and dance specially designed for younger children from Commotion Dance:

The children were spell bound for the full performance! It was a bit surreal for grown ups but still enjoyable in the sunshine. Then we wandered down the street and came across Let's Circus:

We then noticed the next fixed spot act was about to start so we grabbed the provided seating mats for the Cabaret of Harry Stork:

He turned out to be a bonkers French man who did things like get the young girl above to try and catch invisible eggs falling from the sky! Further down the street we found a robot writing poetry in the street in sand:

Then a bunch of scouts and guides trying to find their way to the South of France:

Then we glimpsed some strange looking Austrian ladies ahead who partook in leek dancing:

On our return up the street we watched some intriguing contemporary dancers called Candoco in wrestling masks:

To show the festival is very inclusive we then saw a performance by Prism Arts with performers with varying learning disabilities. My son loved the light sabre battle at the end:

Next up we caught the end of a quick version of Wind in the Willows by Fried Gold Theatre:

We also just saw the tail end of an amazing looking acrobatic performance by Molly Orange:

This meant we were in prime position to see Gacko with his mix of music and story telling:

Of course my daughter managed to get picked to take part as sleeping Sunday:

When we reached our starting point we were just in time to see Le Navet Bete with their comedy act. I was balanced precariously leaning on a lamppost and my son was clinging to the library railings to get a view:

Some how big sister had managed to get in to the front row and was enjoying being close to the action when the performers took one of their frequent forays into the audience:

This meant she was in prime position to be picked as an assistant and possible catcher of this man in a unitard as he attempted to ride a unicycle:

Of course when his colleague accidentally knocked him flying with a ladder my daughter had been sent to a safe distance!

It was slightly more peaceful when my daughter chose to sit and listen to the Storyteller who was accompanied by a fiddle player that he pedalled around on his little cart:

It was slightly more surreal to bump into Swyron on his robo mobile:

We finished our day in the Brewery beer garden:

We managed to listen to 2 out of the 3 live bands starting with Panfire Steel Band who played a mix of music including a Madonna medley and Bohemian Rhapsody!

Next up were July Julay Y Son Bachateros from the Dominican Republic. They played lots of merengue and other latin rhythms. I was jealous of the fantastic dancing from the more mature members of the audience! Unfortunately we couldn't stay any longer as it was a long walk home...

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Good job we had time to come back the next day for more fun...