Long time no speak! The last time we spoke like this our Badger and Fox were out in the beautiful Kew Garden’s over Christmas. Apologies that our first blog of the year is…6 months into it, but hey, good things come to those who wait, and we’ve got LOTS of things to tell you. Might want to grab a cuppa…and a biscuit. Or two.

Where to start?

#We spent a frivolous weekend in Newbury at the 101 Creation Space for the annual gathering of Outside Artists; a weekend of inspiration, creation and fun, a chance to recharge and re-connect, hosted by NASA UK – National Association of Street Artists.

This was a chance to meet new friends, new collaborators, see new ideas and have a BIG feast too. We attended some inspiring workshops including Non-Verbal Communication, Writing an Artistic Manifesto, Lighting Design and Inclusion.

Gareth has now been voted in to join the steering group for NASA UK. *insert party poppers and fireworks* which will allow him to implement change to large collection of outdoor artists e.g: connectivity and skill sharing. It also opens The Fabularium’s opportunities to connect with new people and events. He’s very excited to bring his can-do attitude and get the NASA UK mission out there. Go Gareth

We kicked off our Spring/Summer tour (which seems like a lifetime ago now) at Emerge Festival in Cannock with There Be Monsters! We had cracking audiences and it was great for me to do a local show! This also marked the start of our Fabularium merchandise, ooooh shiny!

We’ve created badges of your favourite characters from our touring shows. Just look at our lovely audience members showing off their new souvenirs. We will now be selling these after every show, so bring some change and see how many you can collect!

Gareth, Jes and Lou whisked themselves to the West Coast of Ireland for a holiday. A working holiday, of course!
Circostrada and ARTCENA, in partnership with ISACS – Irish Street Arts and Spectacle Network – and Galway2020 hosted FRESH STREET #3 – An International Seminar for the Development of Street Arts. This flagship event of Circostrada brings together professional artists, programmers, researchers, pedagogues, journalists, and policymakers from all over Europe and beyond for a key focus on street arts.

There were a series of open panel discussions, workshops, professional exchanges, action-oriented activities, exploration of the local context including the Aran islands, artistic performances…so much! Have a look at some of our best bits, including our best S Club 7 jumps!

Here we are, we made it! And with it comes the most exciting news of all. We put in a second Arts Council Bid back in April to create a brand-new show all about The Hare and The Moon. We are delighted to say our application was successful!!!!

We are now in the process of creating a brand-new cart show ready for the summer, with new animal headpieces (ooh!), new set design (ahh!) and a new creative leap into illuminations (HOLEY MOLEY!) We’ve been busy finalising designs, chatting through storyboards, collaborating with existing and new collaborators. We can’t wait for you all to see it!

As always, music is an integral part to any Fabularium show, and this time we’ve teamed up with Sam Fox and Ricardo Santos Rocha to help us achieve a new Siberian/Mongolian sound.

Ian Mitchell and Liz Dees (who we met at FLOI, thanks NASA UK!) will be helping us incorporate lighting and lanterns into this show. Ollie Titterington will be helping us work out tech logistics. This will allow us to present the show at dusk, perfect for a bedtime story.

Andrew Kim will be joining us again to make some brand-new puppets. Lorna Jean will be creating some beautiful costumes for us to wear. Russell Dean is creating us 4 brand new animals headpieces (excited squeal!) and the dream team that is Jonny Dixon and Marcus Rapley will be helping us to make all our visual dreams a reality and create our brand-new set.

Which then takes us to…

I know we aren’t quite here yet, but July will be the first official sharing of our new show. It will feature as part of a new collaborative project with Coventry University named ‘Coventry Parks Project’. This production will see The Fabularium and Coventry University Students and Graduates revitalise lesser used parks in Coventry with outdoor spectacles in the forms of promenade performances and cart shows. Our Carnival of Animals will return with new stories to entertain new audiences. It’s been great working with the students again and this lovely bunch will be joining us at Just So Festival (16th-18th August) to animate The Garden of Delight.

I told you you’d need a cuppa. We are in full swing of our 2019 tour with lots of exciting events and festivals on the cards.

One last thing… Gareth braved the dreadful wind and rain last week to do a charity bike ride with The Heavy Metal Truants to raise money for ChildLine, Nordoff-Robbins, and the Teenage Cancer Trust. He made it in one piece (just about!) and he said, “a massive thank you to everyone for their kind donations so far.” He is so close to reaching his target! If you do wish to donate to this amazing cause, it’s not too late. Follow this link

Anyway, must dash. We’ve got a new show to make! *eeek*

Hopefully see you all along the way this summer! Check out our tour dates on our website or Facebook.

Warmest wishes and sunshine,