Shrewsbury Folk Festival, a sardine tin full of art - Shrewsbury Bridge #003
Can't miss in culture, history and local happenings in Shrewsbury
With the bank holiday coming up, and the town has decided to do absolutely everything at once.
CAN'T MISS - MUSIC
Shrewsbury Folk Festival takes over the West Mid Showground from Friday
Four days at the West Mid Showground, Friday 28 to Monday 31 August. Cara Dillon, Andy Fairweather Low & The Low Riders, Ferocious Dog with The Celtic Folk Orchestra, Talisk x Gardiner Brothers and Fantastic Negrito are all on the bill, along with Steve Knightley & The Winter Yards Band, The Seeger Sessions Revival, Slambovian Circus of Dreams and Dustbowl Revival.
The one I would not miss is Natu Camara, on the Severn Stage at 1.45pm on Sunday 30 August. It is her first ever UK performance. She is Guinean-American, co-founded the pioneering all-female West African group Ideal Black Girls, and sings in Susu, Fulani, Malinké, French and English. A UK debut at Sunday lunchtime, catchable on a day ticket, is not a thing that happens here often.
It is family and dog friendly, and it does fill the town, so give yourself longer than you think for the drive.
CAN'T MISS - FAMILY
The Steam Rally is back at Onslow Park for the Sunday and the Monday
Image: Steve Whitefoot
Sunday 30 and Monday 31 August at Onslow Park, just outside town. It is run by the County of Salop Steam Engine Society, and there are more than 1,200 exhibits expected across the two days.
The Grand Parade of Steam runs in the main arena, set to music and poetry, with parades of lorries, cars, motorcycles, horses, prams and bicycles too. Away from that there is the working field, where teams of shire horses plough part of the site alongside steam-powered cultivating, plus vintage tractors working and static, an Olde Time Fairground and organs, crafts marquees and trade stands.
Adults are £18, over-65s £17, and children aged 5 to 15 get in for £1, with under-5s free. Gates open at 9am, or 8.30am with an advance "Steam Ahead" ticket, and last admission is 4pm.
CAN'T MISS - CULTURE
Over 100 sardine tins of Shrewsbury are on the Market Hall viewing deck until Saturday
Kate Johnston and Annalin Owen of The Makery asked artists and residents across Shropshire to make something about Shrewsbury, with one rule: it had to fit inside a sardine tin. Over 100 people took them up on it, in textiles, ceramics, metalwork, collage, illustration, photography and even poetry.
Town in a Tin is on The Viewing Deck at Shrewsbury Market Hall, 10am to 4pm on market days, and it closes on Saturday 29 August. Every artwork has a number, and you can vote for the one that catches you by dropping its number in the box for the People's Favourite.
Every piece is £25 and all of it goes to the Perches House Restoration Fund, set up in memory of Rose Roberts, who died aged 81 in the fire that destroyed her home. She had spent decades restoring Perches House, the 14th-century property she owned.
SHREWSBURY HISTORY THIS WEEK
The building that made the skyscraper possible will let you climb its tower on Saturday
Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings exists because a group of innovators decided to solve the problem of factory fires by framing a building in iron instead of wood. English Heritage put it plainly: it paved the way for the skyscrapers of today. That is a strange thing to have happened just up the road from the Castle, and for a century afterwards the mill was alive with noise, heat and hard work.
The Jubilee Tower Tour runs every Saturday and Sunday at 2pm, which this week means Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August. It is £5 for all visitors. Tour spaces are limited and English Heritage strongly recommend booking ahead, so do not just turn up on bank holiday weekend and hope.
TOWN WINS
Our town crier is off to a world final. Martin Wood, who has held the post since 1984, will represent Shrewsbury at the World Town Crier Tournament in Chester next month, against criers from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Read on
183 miles, finishing today. Anna Fraser has been running a marathon a day around Shrewsbury since Monday, for Severn Hospice, Lingen Davies Cancer Fund and The Harry Johnson Trust. Good odds you passed her this week. Read on
Abbey Foregate has somewhere to sit. Two parklets with seating and planting went in on the old taxi rank last week, the first visible result of a consultation nearly 400 people took part in. Read on
And a disused plot on the same street is becoming a community garden. Shrewsbury BID wants volunteers, and three garden leaders in particular, at about half a day a week. Register interest for a leader role by 5 September. Read on
Have a good bank holiday. If you are at the festival or the rally, say hello.
Cheers,
Albert