Festival Magic Lands on The Green

A neglected Belle Vue pocket park is stepping back into the limelight after being shown some love by Belle Vue Arts Festival. The small grassy area known as The Green, which straddles space between Hereford Road and Upper Road, is being transformed into a riot of colour for the Festival.  'It was felt by its neighbours to be ‘unloved’' said Festival Chair Corinne Brown, 'so we were asked by Shrewsbury Town Council to brighten things up a bit, and they donated some funding in support of that'.

The challenge of yarn bombing the Green's largest tree was taken up by the Hermitage Knit and Nat(ter) group. For nearly twenty years, the group has met every week to bond over a shared love of knitting and crocheting and enjoy a chat. While much of the year is spent making blankets and twiddle mats for good causes at home and abroad, eight years ago the knitters began collaborating with the Arts Festival. Since then, the annual decking of Greyfriars Bridge with their brightly-coloured woollen bunting has become a much-anticipated signal that Festival-time has almost arrived. 'It's quite a lot of work' said Knit and Nat group member and Festival Committee member Chrissy Bridge. 'Each triangle takes twenty or thirty minutes to knit, and we've got about three hundred of them. It gets added to every year' she continued 'and Ginny, one of our members, and her friends, do repairs and come up with new ideas such as wrapping lampposts and decorating the fencing at Barnabas Church. They also knit the amazing post-box toppers that people might have seen dotting the area during the Festival'.

The tree at The Green is certainly looking Festival-ready now its trunk has been swathed in colourful woollen wrappers. 'We don't want to damage the tree' said Chrissy 'so no nails have been used. Everything is held in place with cable ties. After about two or three weeks, we'll be removing our work because that's what's best for the tree'.

Over the coming weekend the tree will be joined temporarily by scarecrows entered for the Festival Scarecrow Trail, including an exciting carved dragon, decorated for the event by local brownies. One improvement however, is here to stay: after careful renovation and reconditioning by willing hands at Shrewsbury Men's Shed, the two benches overlooking The Green have been imaginatively re-painted by Festival Committee members Anne, Jo and Lynette, with talented junior artists ably assisting. Their cheerful colours and summery vibe will ensure that a little bit of Festival spirit lives on at The Green all year round.