Diary Sunday 25th September 2016

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The Preston centred Lancashire Encounters Festival entered its final day with dreadful rain thinning the crowds but by no means dampening the festive spirit of the city. My first visit was to The Harris Centre art gallery where my friend Hart Rock was giving a talk on burlesque, which I supported though I know the subject itself well enough. Rock was preparing for some workshop lessons in Boylesque / burlesque and a performance that was being repeated there later in the afternoon, so I chose to take in other events and return for the later performance. I watched a few of the K-Stock bands performing at Korova Bar’s mini-Woodstock concert. Korova, named after The Milk Bar featured in the book and movie A Clockwork Orange, is currently closed and seeking a new address. I hope they secure one soon. The original Korova bar is still there, though cruelly closed. Around the streets, various street entertainments were going on. I discovered that a croft close to the bus station is called The Grassy Knoll, possibly in relation to the infamous Grassy Knoll implicated in various JFK assassination conspiracies. On Lancaster Road two performers collectively called Acrojou were performing the Wheelhouse – a large precarious rolling wheel in which they spun, falling to and away from one another, tended one another’s wounds and clung desperately for life with extraordinary acrobatic skill. Though described as a futuristic dystopia, it reminded me of WW2 fighter pilots struggling to control, or escape from a disintegrating plane superimposed on the struggles of the nurses to patch them up afterwards. From there I went to The Guild Hall, a theatre within a shopping mall, and in one small room, Garry Cook was presiding over a short story writing slam, which was fully booked before I learned of it. I did know one competitor though she was knocked out in the preliminary rounds. It was a very close contest and the stories were all very entertaining. The winner got £50.00. I chatted with Garry and some of the writers afterwards, and went with them to the nearby Ham & Jam Café, which runs writing events and workshops. From there I went to the last actual festival event, the performance part of Rock Hart’s Burlesque presentation, which was tremendous. I knew some of the performers here too, and I discovered that Rock was also running a burlesque cabaret show that night at a nearby bar, The Dark Room section of The Roper Lounge. I got a quick bite to eat and went to that for the remainder of the evening. A fantastic day and a lovely inaugural festival that really deserves to become an annual event. Arthur Chappell