This weekend my wanderings
took me back to a familiar stomping ground, but as part of a larger event. I
returned to Castle Square Lincoln
Traditionally, the festival
has been a showcase for acoustic musicians of varying styles, playing all
manner of instruments from medieval to modern. This year saw the range of acts
extended to include the Earth Bound Misfits (well, one of them at least)
entertaining the crowds by juggling an assortment of items including a rubber
chicken, and myself – Lincoln
The weather was kind, and
the crowds came out in force…
Some were locals – it was great to see so many familiar faces among
both the ‘audiences’ and the other busking acts.
Some were tourists – of
various nationalities – some Brits visiting from elsewhere in the UK
The whole event had an
almost continental atmosphere with people enjoying a drink in the sun while
being entertained by the various acts.
The first people to come
and see what I had brought along to entertain the masses were a group of
Italian students. At first I had a sense of mild panic… Which of the assorted
demonstrations lurking in my rucksack could I show them that wouldn’t need too
much of an explanation?
I started by showing them
the ‘Vanishing penny’… A great little demonstration that “does exactly what it
says on the tin”… Even without a
scientific explanation it’s a crowd pleaser! As it happened, I think the gist
of my explanation was understood by them anyway… I say I think… My Italian isn’t great, but one of the girls had clearly
got the main point about light changing direction between passing through water
compared to air, and explained it to the others… Brilliant!
Clearly any bits that were
lost in translation did not detract from the over all experience, as my new
found Italian friends stuck around to see another couple of demonstrations,
smiling as they watched, and even put a few coins in my collecting bucket as
they left, to which I gave them a big friendly smile and a hearty “Grazie!” in
my best Dolmio advert / ‘Allo ‘Allo
Italian accent!
Later in the day I assisted
a group of French students in their British cultural experience by letting them
have a smell (and even a taste if they were brave enough) of the Marmite I was
using to do a really cool experiment which I ‘borrowed’ from the Bang Goes the
Theory team (Thanks guys!).
Did you know that it’s possible
to turn Marmite white?... No??...
You’ll have to come along and see it for yourself next time I’m out doing a
spot of science busking – or better still, book me to come and do a science
party for you!
