BIG BOULDER

The sun came first, then giant cushion flowers and shimmering flags, Big Tent on the main stage, with electric folk tales of ancient buildings and hints at something untouched; the perfect start for the fourth annual Big Boulder Music and Arts Festival, itself the culmination of another year of fund-raising on the local roots music scene.

Smell senses were tingled by Woody’s, Nachos Amigos, Kiln Pizza, Caribbean cuisine and Granelli’s ice cream; people emerged through the trees to the grass of Taggy’s Field, settling in with family and friends on blankets between the main stage and stalls of wood craft and whittle stick.

“There’s a real mix of people here and no one’s being patronised” said Dennis.  “A lot of large scale and legal arts events tend to occur wherever the promoters can find, and usually have little to do with the people who actually live within earshot”.

“There’s not usually much art at large local arts events” said Tracey.  “The organisers usually confuse profile with product and tend to be quite predictable, but the Big Boulder is really unique because of the unique situation with ownership of the land, so there’s a huge potential here for things to keep growing without excluding those who usually exclude themselves from mainstream arts provision”.

Youngsters made woodland crowns, attempted to balance impossible stones with Responsible Fishing and were hypnotised by the giant bubbles of the South Bank Bubble Man, while the good people at the White Lion kept folk juiced with People’s Pale as the Early Cartographers, Dariush Kanani, Avital Raz and the Angel Brothers performed on the main stage.

“We often find that decent sound quality at smaller gigs doesn’t really translate that well to large outdoor events, but Big Boulder sound was really good” said Holly Taymar, who took to the stage as one half of the Bronze.  It’s rare to be so well-looked after at a show with so many other performers, and we love playing to the people of Heeley”.

“I’ve heard some really interesting stuff that I wasn’t familiar with before” said Ali.  “There’s a real sense of performers being picked to play as oppose to naive promoters being over-run by the same small gene pool of publicity hounds, which enables that small group to perpetuate the idea of itself as the majority, so a lot of supposed arts events tend to actually hinder the hundreds of artists struggling beneath the radar about the city!”

“As musicians we have never been treated better than when working with the Heeley Development Trust” added Paul Littlewood, who’s Eastern Seaboard Radio Station closed the festival with the Cuckoo Clocks.  “They want everyone involved to have a great time, and they make sure this happens by organising things professionally, with great care and attention. We are proud to have been a part of Big Boulder 2015.”

The Friends of Meersbrook Hall baked the cakes and there were exhibits from the Meersbrook Ceramics Festival at Big Boulder 2015, which also served as a fund-raiser for the recently re-branded Heeley People’s Park, which is owned and managed by the community.

“I found the whole thing really inspiring” said Jon.  “There was a real sense of harmony and of a community all facing in the same direction.  Looking back, at the giant bubbles around the crows nest, the Hybrid stage in the crescent at This Is Heeley and the last Heeley Festival, it’s been a great summer for events at the park”

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