By Kate Hodges
01st September 2017
EVENT Hull Lotta Love
Hull’s year as City of Culture is in full swing, and its annual Freedom Festival is a great time to visit the artistically throbbing city, as its streets become theatres, arenas showcasing spectacular street theatre, huge fire shows and dozens of events. This year’s festival includes an ambitious community project, The Feast, the tasty, family-friendly climax of months of hard growing work from the people of the city. There are lots of other stunning free events; enjoy the colourful carnival, an incendiary fire performance inspired by Fahrenheit 451, the science tent presented by the University of Hull, and a thrilling, traditional high wire circus.
MAKE School Daze
Many conventionally educated kids are headed back to school this week. Make the trip back more bearable with some super-cool, DIY kit. These perky pencil toppers will make even calculus fun, and a cute pencil case makes class life infinitely better while books are infinitely more appealing clad in a hip cover (we love the printable vintage notebook!) . Older students will love these practical bespoke planners, and younger kids will be inspired and touched by these beautiful and postitive lunchbox notes. Pack everything in a home-made bag or backpack (we’re making some for ourselves too!)
EVENT Fresh Mela
A colourful, thrilling whirl of world music and dance, Edinburgh Mela is one of Scotland’s most jaw-dropping festivals. Held annually on Leith Links, past events have seen spectacular Bollywood dance productions, plus performances from the likes of bhangra stars Bonafide and singer Kiran Ahluwalia. The air will be filled with the scent of exotic foods – it’s a great place to encourage your children to try new things to eat, and there’s a large children’s area which hosts dance workshops, arts and crafts and live performances perfect for tiny music fans. Free.
RECIPES Pink Pink Sunshine
We can’t get enough of in-season raspberries right now. Tempting as it is just to eat them straight from the bush (or from the punnet), hold back a few to make this tangy vinaigrette dressing to perk up your lunchtime salad. Or make them the focus of that salad, alongside avocado and mango. This dark chocolate chip raspberry banana bread is truly indulgent, while Yotam Ottolenghi’s deeply fragrant roulade pairs rose petals, cream and meringue for a picture-perfect pud. Finally, kids can’t get enough of these healthy and easy-to-make frozen raspberries with yoghurt snacks.
EVENT Way To Grow
Whether you’ve got a window box, a garden or a smallholding, if you’re green-fingered you’ll love Cultivate, which continues through September. The Waltham Forest festival is aimed at those who grow food, with practical help such as compost giveaways, workshops and networking afternoons mixed in with fun events including street theatre, produce shows and kids activities. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people, form alliances, and get some clever gardening tips.
