That's the Vicar on Djembe!

Stroud Sacred music festival kicked off today. I attended the morning chant session (but not the raga, that was too early at 8am). There were chants from Taize, France (Christian ecumenical) earth songs from a man called JJ, and Kirtan from Tim Chalice. I sat entranced for most of three hours. The Taize songs were stunningly beautiful, in English, Latin or French.  I will go to their service some day
The musicians in the photo are Tim Chalice, with The Rev Simon Howell on dejembe drum. Simon arrived in Stroud less than ten years ago and has brought about great changes, transforming St Laurence's church in the centre of Stroud into the Centre for Peace and Arts. I visit a lot, and it was there that I had such a bad experience of being stung by a bee last November, (though it's obviously not the bees fault, nor the centre's....) After the chanting events ended, I got carried away and bought a supper ticket, and one for the evening concert. Then I went home.

CS and I soon set off for the local small.park, Daisybank, where a fun day/community event was taking place. A DJ was olaying sets, which we did not love, but the kids' fruit and veg 'art' was good (I've put an owl in Extras). I'd have loved to do that when I was a child! We stayed for the tug of war, then left as soon as the straw fight started. There were a LOT of straw bales....

The evening concert back in town was, for me, a mixed bag. I dozed through Sam Lee (oh no, I think he's really famous) and the next two were too strange: I liked the flutes but not the drumming. Then there was Mohammed Erreban(?) and his band, and they were very danceable, so I strutted around, along with others, and the whirling Dervish musician whirled too.

The gong bath (see the big titanium gongs in the image?) was accompanied by a screeching amplified cello, and put me in mind of nuclear explosions, mushroom clouds, lunchtimes at nursery with all the children screaming and throwing food! In other words, it was anything but relaxing, and I had to scurry home afterwards and calm myself down with colour-changing.lights and a podcast.  This was a good example of how my first thought (just get a ticket for the chant space, that's enough) was the best thought, but no! Caught up in the excitement,  I wanted more. This isn't always better.