Sunday 8 July 2018

Eighth Year at Buxton Fringe 7 July 2018


9.10. Plenty of time to give out the remaining twenty flyers. As I stroll down the hill another car full of our members passes me. Later I see them and one or two others, including Jeff, sitting outside a café. Sitting outside a café in Buxton at 9.20? That's a new one. It's going to be a lovely day.
"Would you like to come to our concert?" I say to Jeff.
"Oh, yes please."
He immediately hands the flyer on to a passer-by. I give him a small fistful to pass on to others.
The last half dozen go into a vintage furniture and coffee shop. "Just the sort of thing our customers like," says the assistant.
Outside one hotel is a sculpture entitled "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". A lady is staring at it. "We sing that one too," I say as I hand her a flyer. I spot her in our audience in our second concert.  So, these flyers work.
It's is quite touching that in several venues where I've dropped off leaflets on my two previous visits to Buxton they've clearly photocopied a few more. Everyone in this delightful town is so supportive of the Fringe Festival.  
We worry a little about the football. I even spot one St Mary's regular at the United Reformed Church. Oh dear. We needn't have worried. At both concerts there were just a few people fifteen minutes before the start. When we appeared at 11.00 at the United Reformed Church and 3.00 at St Mary's the audatoria were both two thirds full – slightly over, perhaps, with just a few more at St Mary's.  Ah! Football – you won't stop us.
Our reviewer picked out that we enjoy singing. Yes, we most certainly do. And it was fun. Read the full review here. It was good to sing some old favourites with which we are confident and we also enjoyed airing Sway and The Blessing.
Of course, there is the usual group photo, this time accompanied by a cat. Do you spot him?  
We are awash with tea and cake. Gallons of tea. There must be, because we use almost a gallon of milk. Such a variety of cake. Some good baking and excellent choices in shopping. This allows us plenty of time to chat to our audiences.
As I go back to my car, I spot the group that followed us at the United Reformed Church.
"How did it go?" I ask. They had performed a short murder mystery play.
"Quite well," they say.  "We had a decent audience in the end."  
I suppose we did cater for people who don't like football.
Yes, another superb day at Buxton. Thank you to Mary at the United Reformed Church and Eric and Eric at St Mary's who made us so welcome and helped our events to run smoothly.