Photos with thanks to Sandra Walding
What a superb day Canopy brought to Bream for the second West Dean Arts Festival at the end of April on a glorious sunny Saturday: the event was filled with laughter, creativity and community spirit from start to finish.
More than 500 visitors came to the West Dean Centre to enjoy a day of dancing, singing, making and celebrating the arts together. It was a wonderful showcase of local talent and community involvement, bringing people of all ages together in a vibrant festival atmosphere.
Over 100 people joined the opening parade, which travelled along Beech Way and Highbury Road. It was a colourful and energetic spectacle, led by the infectious rhythms of Forest Thump Samba Band, who set the pace and got everyone moving. A Gloucestershire College animated parade of puppets wound its way along the back roads of Bream, delighting spectators of all ages. More than 20 extraordinary large-scale puppet sculptures, created by GlosCol students, were carried by staff and students. These included a giant sunflower measuring four feet across, a two-metre frog, a turtle operated by two people beneath its shell and several magnificent mythical beasts.
Children and parents from Bream Primary School and Lydney C of E School proudly carried the colourful flags and banners they had created with Batik Artist Joanne Callaghan. Dancer Bronwen Wilson Rashad worked with Found in the Forest Youth Theatre to develop bird-inspired movements, which the young performers brought to life throughout the procession. Wild Oats Morris danced and waved their flags, joined by Wimberry Clog, while members of Bream Gardening Society and many local artists added their own creativity to the parade. As the procession reached its conclusion, African drumming group Djabot kept the energy flowing with their powerful rhythms.
Halfway along Highbury Road, the parade paused to allow the different arts groups to circle the green and showcase their work, creating an impromptu outdoor performance space that drew enthusiastic applause from onlookers.
Photos with thanks to Forest of Dean Camera Club
The West Dean Centre itself had been transformed into a vibrant arts venue. Flags, bunting and banners decorated every available post, wall and corner of the building, patio and car park. Gloucestershire County Councillor Beki Hoyland officially opened the festival as Bream Silver Band struck up the first notes of the day. With visitors steadily pouring through the gates, volunteers guided people towards the packed programme of performances and creative workshops taking place indoors and outdoors.
The car park became a lively performance area, hosting the entertaining Ships and Giggles and later welcoming colourful displays from Wild Oats Morris and Wimberry Clog. In one corner, Artspace’s outdoor circus aerial workshop attracted a constant stream of young people eager to try the equipment, while Djabot invited visitors to explore an impressive collection of African drums in their hands-on drumming workshop.
Nearby, the Canopy gazebo, surrounded by flags fluttering in the spring breeze, provided information, programmes and a warm welcome from volunteers and First Aiders. A special thank you goes to everyone who added a pin to the large Forest of Dean map to show where they lived and how they had travelled to Bream. More than 40% of contributors had walked to the festival and were from Bream itself – a wonderful reflection of local support.
Bream Gardening Society ran a busy stall selling plants and vegetables while promoting their organisation to visitors throughout the day.
On the sunny patio behind the West Dean Centre, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust led a creative workshop making hedgehogs from clay and natural found materials. Sharing the space was leatherwork artist Bella Keilt, who guided families through a series of engaging hands-on activities.
Inside the Centre, audiences enjoyed an outstanding programme of performances. The ever-popular Onika Venus Band set the hall alight, with audience members dancing, singing and “struttin’ and singing” along to their infectious music. One of the day’s most memorable surprises came when members of the audience gradually stood up to form a Flash Mob Choir. Led by Kirsty Abraham, the spontaneous performance moved several spectators to tears of joy as voices suddenly emerged from all around the room.
Found in the Forest Youth Theatre also delivered a lively workshop inspired by local writer Dennis Potter, encouraging parents and children alike to laugh, play, move and create together.
Between performances, Edklektik presented his unique combination of electric guitar and tap dance to tremendous applause. Having lived and worked in Spain for many years, Ed brought elements of traditional Spanish tap dancing to the stage, blending them with contemporary music in a performance unlike anything many audience members had seen before.
In the Earby Room, three artists led a range of engaging creative workshops throughout the day. Tanya Mason showed participants how to construct themed cardboard automata, with visitors proudly taking home their finished creations. Briony Bell introduced people to the art of screen printing, enabling them to produce beautiful prints of their own, while Lisa Longmore shared techniques for creating vintage-style collages using lace, text, stamps and an extensive collection of papers and materials.
Bream Library also opened its doors as part of the festival, hosting four local writers and storytellers. Darren Hoskins had audiences laughing with his hilarious Cranky story, while Maggie Clutterbuck shared moving poems about her father’s work in the mines alongside other Forest-inspired pieces. Creative writer Stuart Carswell read a selection of poems from his collection, including The Wedding Gift, a magical piece centred on the life of an acorn. Author Andy Seed entertained listeners with readings from his children’s books.
As the afternoon drew to a close, Forest Voices of the Dean filled the venue with uplifting songs, many of which had the audience happily singing along.
The day concluded with the draw of a raffle generously supported by local businesses and individual contributors. We are especially grateful to the many businesses that donated fantastic prizes with our sincere thanks going to Mary Rose, Noxon Farm, M.E. Damsell Ltd, Float in the Forest, The Co-operative, Forest of Dean Tyres, Knockley Pet Supplies and Suntory Beverage & Food.
Finally, we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers who made the festival possible. These included volunteers from Forest of Dean Lions, Bream Gardening Society, Forest Talk, Forest Camera Club and the local PCSO team. Special thanks also go to the Canopy volunteers who ran the café, erected and dismantled canopies, stewarded the parade and transformed the West Dean Centre with decorations and displays. Together, they helped create a truly special atmosphere and a joyful day to remember.
If you have photographs from the festival, we would love to see them. Please send them to us, and if you have a special memory from the day that you would like to share, do get in touch.
Canopy is funded by Arts Council England and received grants from West Dean Parish Council and Gloucestershire County Council to support this event. As a small organisation, however, we continually work hard to sustain and develop our activities.
If you would like to support our work, please consider making a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=6WFN9GJFUUXJE
Canopy Creative Network 