This amazing space, was directly across from the Live Stage that I was working at. Which was really ideal for me, because it kept my youngest entertained whilst I was busy, getting the Main Stage set up snd keeping it running. It was quite a hot weekend, so having a shady place for the kids to play and explore in, was a must.
All of the wonderful things, the games, the structures that were within this space, were made from recycled materials. The first thing you see is this awesome elephant, which was made out of barrels, material, bottles and broken toys. There were hoola hoops nearby and the kids enjoyed trying to throw them onto the trunk. If you look closely, you can see a hose coming through, which sprayed water on the kids (and adults) as they played.
The space was created by the Nostruckture collective, a group if artists and musicians that have put on cabaret and circus shows at alternative festivals in Europe since 2014. This time though, they focused on the kids and shared some of their zmazing creations with us all which I found very inspiring.
As well as having alot of building bricks for the kids to use and art supplies, they also crested great games for them to play. What child, doesn't enjoy trying to get balls in holes. What adult doesn't either. It's great for building their hand eye coordination. My youngest and her friends spend ages playing this game. I could hear them cheering one another on.
Then there was the flamingo, which was the holding space for the hoola hoops, it was fun watching g the kids get them off and on again. It was not so easy to do it, if you were small. Fun to watch though, as they found their own way of doing it. Once again it was all made from recycled materials.
This next structure, was so cool. I'm wondering if you can guess what it is from the picture. The head is a siren, which you usually see at the front of a ship. If you look closely, can you see the plank?
How about in this shot. Its that piece if wood you see jutting out. Someone would stand on that, as more people took turns to try and through a ball through the sun, which is painted next to it. Behind there is a target, if you hit it, the plank of wood falls and the person on it, then falls into the water. Which is held in a plastic container covered in blue matetial with the word plouff on it. This was definitely one of the kids favourites, they lined up to see if they could get their friends to fall in the water.
Pretty ingenious, don't you think?
Then there was this awesome crocodile, that was made out of tyres, textiles, plastic and wire. You could sit inside it snd make its legs and head move. As you bounced thanks to the huge spring underneath. I was super impressed with this and the plank structure. I find it really inspiring to be in such a creative space and I can only imagine how inspiring it is for kids too. Showing them what you can create from trash basically.
And of course, you can't not have a chest at a pirate festival and even better have it full of juggling equipment/toys. As well as this very simple structure, that had two wheels either side and two pedals at different angles. It really was a lot of fun watching kids and adults like try to use it. I tried and kept falling off of it.
I really wish, I had taken a better picture of this Pin Ball creation, made from a wooden board and metal off cuts. I loved playing Pin Ball as a child and always wanted my own. Here you could move the actual board to try and get the ball from one end to the other. How cool is that.
I was so impressed by this space and it certainly kept all the kids and a lot of adults entertained, whilst showing us how we can find ways to reuse certain things, we might throw away.