DIY festival

Due to covid 19, most of the fun has been sucked out of 2020 and usually at this time of year I would attend a small local festival filled with eccentric design and music, however, unfortunately the festival was cancelled and transformed into a house zoom party. This meant that all music was streamed online through zoom, Facebook live and their YouTube channel, while you were sitting in your appropriately decorated back garden mimicking the idea of a festival and the most exciting part was the prize for best set up was 2 free tickets to next years event! (All being well) 

This was the perfect way for a recent art graduate to fill the long lonely days with a bit of excitement again and embrace my creative, yet sustainable side! 

First of all I got to work on the sign, because what is a festival without a sign? This was made from large sheets of cardboard that were left over from the packaging of my newly fitted bathroom which I refused to let anyone bin! 

Hand drawn, painted and infused with glitter - of course it was biodegradable. 

Next, the direction arrows. Admittedly these were done too early as I hadn’t even set anything up yet so they eventually pointed to no where. But it was the thought that counts. 

These were also constructed from the same cardboard. 

After that, the sun eventually came out and I made my way to the back garden where my dad and I constructed a bar from an old pallet with 2 floor boards on top to create a nice finished bar top. The bar also had a fancy built in speed rail and the whole thing was fixed by a bracket onto a stable beam by my dad - the muscle of the project. 

We then constructed a very makeshift gazebo using a huge sheet of tarpaulin and some poles that my next door neighbour left us after he watched us struggle for 2 days trying to be resourceful! The whole this was secured with diy guy ropes and believe it or not it is all still Standing 2 weeks later haha! 

After all that grafting we then found a gazebo in the garage which I suppose would’ve been a sensible place to look for equipment like that, but I think both my dad and I just looked for the challenge that we new we could win! 

So obviously that got built as well as the safety net. 

As the rain began again, I made my way back inside to construct a whole bunch of decorations from my old clothes. Repurposing things always makes me feel like if accomplished something and then I know where things end up rather than donating it where there’s a chance for it to be in landfill. 

I used pinking shears to make bunting and old balls of wool to make pom-poms. 

Also, you couldn’t have a kelburn garden party without kelburn castle 🏰, so back to the drawing board to paint up my own version of of famous graffiti art castle. 

Lastly was the decorating! Watching everything come together is my favourite bit! My pallet throne with the recycled sari cushions from earlier on in lockdown was wheeled into position and I began to hang bunting, pom-poms, direction arrows, castles, signs and of course fairy lights to create my own make shift festival. 

This whole execution took 5 days and a lot of overthinking so don’t be fooled by My minimalist description. The only problem is this week I feel lost without the purpose. So I have been racking my brains to keep busy - stay tuned to see what’s coming next. 

My extended family did have the pleasure of spending the day at a festival where both pre-made wristbands and free alcohol were provided. Maybe I’ve found my dream job.