Author: vornster

Some contributions to Andy Field’s Ghost Festival

| vornster

Some years ago, Talking Birds produced the Virtual Fringe Festival [ www.virtualfringe.info ] a festival of possibility for the city of Coventry. It was designed to animate spaces around Coventry city centre in people’s imaginations and open up some of the possibilities that are dormant in many of the city’s spaces.

Last week, Andy Field of the excellent Forest Fringe [ www.forestfringe.co.uk/ ] had an idea for a Ghost Festival [ http://lookingforastronauts.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/the-imaginary-festival/ ] to run alongside the Edinburgh Fringe, and asked Twitter for 140 character events to populate the festival. As we love virtual festivals (often more than real festivals) we had to join in. Here are our events (look out for them if you are heading up to Edinburgh this year…)

› A man in blue overalls flyposts sky photos. His pasting brush plays ‘Bring Me Sunshine’. The clouds contain treasure hunt clues.

› A pea green mini with rooftop tannoy drives round broadcasting tweeted msgs of hope + despair containing the ghostfest hashtag.

› A rickshaw bicycle ridden by an ancient mariner proffers lifts. As he pedals, he whispers tales of adventure on the high seas.

› Small white kennels are dotted about the city. On the roof of each kennel is a braille panel describing the fantastical contents.

› A fortune teller hands balloons out to children. If the balloon is popped, a prediction of exquisite wistfulness is released.

› A woman with a basket of raspberries exchanges fruit for secrets.

› A man in a leather apron invites people into his smokehouse. They emerge days later, yellow and smelling faintly of woodsmoke.

› A lady, in an ice cream van whose jingle is a ringtone, collects old mobile phones and grinds them up to make sorbet.