OUR WINDOW WAS HIGHLY COMMENDED!

The Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival 2019 has taken place.  It was a great success with the town buzzing!  I was right about the winner of the Best Dressed Window - it was Anna's Attic (see last post).  Incidentally, the trophy, which can be seen in the top left pic, was made by Fran Davies, a local stain glass artist and one of our members at the One Craft Gallery.

We, at the One Craft Gallery had a highly commended certificate - see our window in the previous post, as did the Opticians in the High Street, Christopher Young.  Their window can be seen in the bottom three photographs above...

SHEPTON'S SNOWDROP FESTIVAL

This weekend it was Shepton's first Snowdrop Festival, which has been organised by the local Horticultural Society.  It is in honour of James Allen (1830 - 1906), who lived in the town and was the first person to breed snowdrops from wild varieties.  Above, is the window at the One Craft Gallery, that I and a fellow maker, put together for the event.  Members of our co-operative had contributed by producing artworks, and wares inspired by snowdrops.  We were given a special award by the organisers for our efforts!

All the images above and below, were taken last Friday at Shepton Market, when the festival started.  The town was awash with snowdrop images - from stencilled pavements to colourful planters.  There were also the plants for sale - I never knew there were so many varieties!  Each had its own name and special features.



A large empty shop space had been taken over as Snowdrop HQ.  Here there were refreshments, artwork, cakes, cards, related stalls, and the results of a photographic and poetry writing competition.  Over the weekend there were other events, including a parade to Jams Allen's grave to plant some snowdrops, and a ramble in a local wood.  It was great to see so many people gathering in the town on Friday.  I hope the whole weekend was a success as the Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival is planned to be an annual event...