Weekend Larks: September 16-18

Beast of a feast

 THE summer’s almost over, but there’s still time to enjoy the last rays of warmth on the streets of Liverpool.

We’re saying that, but right now the weather forecasters have other ideas.  Nevermind. You don’t need sunshine in a bar.

Hope Street Feast is the ultimate urban village fete, full of the music, dance, theatre, art and great food and drink that characterises the street’s major contribution to Liverpool’s cultural life.

It also remains free -and damned right too.

In the sixth annual feast, there are all the usuals. A huge street market, with hot food, produce and other stalls, all animated by the street theatre of Hope Street Ltd’s Free Radical Follies and Maison Foo’s mobile library. There are open air dining areas and bars, with music stages on Myrtle and Mount streets and walkabout performances on Falkner Street.

Don’t forget the free, open activities at Liverpool Philharmonic, Unity Theatre, Blackburne House, the former Irish Centre on Mount Pleasant, Merseyside Dance Initiative, Hope Street Hotel, the Masonic Hall, the Caledonia pub, and both Liverpool Cathedral and the Metropolitan Cathedral.  

With a beer festival running until closing time on Roscoe Street, it’s the only way to say farewell to the summer that never was.

*Hope Street Feast, Hope Street, Liverpool, Sunday Sep from 10.30am, free.

Fete accompli

RUNNING a cathedral is hard work and costs a packet if you want to keep it free to visitors. 

Thus, the first ever Liverpool Cathedral Fete is happening Friday Saturday and Sunday.

Calligraphy, puppet making, ceramics, jewellery making, knitting, card making, lace making, sculpture and textiles are in the mix.  There will also be stalls selling photography and printed arts, natural bath products and glassware.

Model enthusiasts can enjoy a fully operational exhibition of vintage Meccano and Hornby Trains over the three days (small charge applies). Many of the models on display were made at Liverpool’s famous Binns Road factory.

Traditional activities on offer include donkey rides, hook a duck, a tombola, raffle and face painting as well as a bookstall and nearly new stall.

Cathedral bell ringers, archivists, organ builders and members of the Merseyside Embroiderers Guild will also be on hand to talk about their crafts and there will be free guided Cathedral tours.

A full music programme across the weekend includes The Liverpool Shanty Kings (Friday) and The Mersey Riggers, Liverpool Signing Choir and Suzuki Violinists (Saturday).

For the sporty there will be a bouncy castle, bungee trampoline and the annual sponsored cathedral abseil (there is still time to sign up) contact them here or 0151 702 7226).

All proceeds will go to the Cathedral Foundation which helps keep the Cathedral free to visitors.

*Liverpool Catherdral Fete, Anglican Cathedral, St James Mount, Friday-Sunday Sept 16-18. 10am-6pm.

Victorian va-va voom

The fourth annual Birkenhead Park Festival of Transport claims to be one of the top Wirral happenings for families, taking place in one of the nation’s finest parks, designed by Joseph Paxton.

The two day event provides an opportunity for visitors to nostalgically view a fine selection of classic cars and motorcycles produced during the heyday of British manufacturing.

By popular demand, the Howard Brothers will again attend with their famous steam driven gallopers, this year the Victorian fairground will have the added attraction of a 1922 vintage dodgem car ride. To top it off, there is a 30 metre long food and craft marquee, stalls and musicians.

On Saturday there’s a flypast by a Spitfire and Hurricane, courtesy of the RAF. Narrow gauge steam locomotives from the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland railways will be in operation carrying passengers over 300 yards of track.

Google it. Or should that be goggle it?

*Birkenhead Festival of Transport, Saturday-Sunday September 17-18 Birkenhead Park, free. See here for more

Fright night

IF the spirits of the drinking kind on Hope Street don’t float your boat, Derek Acorah is conjuring up the spooky sort at that big, ghostly barn itself: The Royal Court.

The Paranormal Experience is a fusion of past life regression and clairvoyant mediumship demonstrated by Acorah and Alan Bates.

Acorah and BatesMind you, the Court is quick to add that due to EU legislation this show is purely for entertainment purposes.

The pair’s “fine-tuned abilities” make this combined show a “refreshing change” and audiences are “spellbound by the presentation, sincere delivery and accuracy of this unique show”. If they do say so themselves.

Any nagging worries that you may have been a horse in another life are swept away with a special chance to get your books signed and photographs taken with the pair. Say cheese.

*The Paranormal Experience, Royal Court, Roe Street, Liverpool, Sunday September 18, 7.30pm. Tickets £20 from 0870 787 1866