Hay Pride and other Events

 Today was Hay Pride day at the Castle and the Globe, but before that started, runners were gathering at the Clock Tower for the Offa's Dyke run.  There was a chap with a PA system at the back of his car organising everyone, and he said that the run had originally taken place between 1977 and 2001, and re-started in 2015.  

 

They set off for the bridge at 11am, and shortly after that I went up to the Globe, where the Pride parade was gathering.

The big hats belong to the three Welsh Lady dancers - one of them is standing by the table with the black blouse and multicoloured skirt.  The hats went down right over their heads, with eye holes.  There were also the Taiko drummers, and a samba band.  I'd seen the Taiko drummers earlier, doing a warm up session on the steps of the Castle:

The parade went through the back streets of Hay, onto Lion Street and then up to the square.  There were lots of people in brightly coloured clothing, including a lady who I think is the vicar at Cusop Church, wearing her dog collar and a rainbow coloured tutu!  Lots of people had hand made signs, including some in Welsh, and about half way along the route some tall banners were passed around, from the River Wye Festival - they were tall enough to get slightly tangled up in the Hay Festival bunting, but no damage was done!

At the square everyone fanned out around the central space so the drummers and samba players had plenty of room to perform, with the Welsh Ladies dancing.  Then the strains of the song from Cabaret, Willkommen, Bien venue, Welcome, came from the top of the Castle steps - I think the singer was Boo La Croux, and with that, everyone made their way up the steps onto the Castle green where all the stalls were laid out.  There was plenty to eat and drink, a stage for the entertainment, a table to register for the dog show, and stalls - Otherworlds had rainbow themed goods on display and the comic lady I met at Hay market a few weeks ago was there, with some Pride themed graphic novels alongside her usual stock.  There was also a book stall - I went a bit mad with the Juno Dawson titles.  I'd seen Her Majesty's Royal Coven at the Hay Festival Bookshop, and hesitated over it, but this time I got it and two of Juno Dawson's non-fiction titles, This Book is Gay and What's the T?  And I rounded off my little pile with the Complete works of Sappho, sadly fragmentary, but what survives is quite beautiful.

On a more serious note, PAVO were there, the volunteer body, along with the NHS giving information about gender medical care locally (and suicide prevention) and West Mercia Women's Aid.

There was a stall doing temporary tattoos and butterfly wings, too, and face painting.

Near the food trucks was a 3D art installation by Dan Lee, a triangular structure with a circular disc suspended from it, which he was encouraging people to add ribbons to.

And there was a stall for Queering the Wye Valley.  I had a lovely conversation with the lady at the stall.  It's a project connecting young people with nature, with a focus on environmentalism.  "Drag queens are all about glitter!" she laughed, "so we've got to find a way of doing it without being environmentally unfriendly!"  They have a podcast that I'm going to investigate shortly.

Meanwhile, Radnorshire Wildlife Trust had taken over the Globe for the afternoon for a clothes swap as part of Green Week, and I had some stuff I wanted to get rid of, so I slipped away from the Castle for a while.  I parted with a green suede jacket, a brown skirt, brown silk blouse, pink scarf and a couple of other bits, and came away with a brown loose jacket with embroidery round the collar, a red and black tie, a cotton skirt and a loose black cardigan.  As I was struggling into the skirt to make sure it fit, over my own skirt, a lady stopped and said: "I brought that in!" and we both cheered when I managed to get the zip up.  The black cardi had a small hole in the back, but I went straight off  to Country Supplies and found an embroidered patch - a red dragon on a black background, which I've stitched over the hole, so it looks pretty good.

All that, and the Mad Hatter's Craft Fair in the Buttermarket!  A busy day!