The 4th and 5th of May saw the arrival of the first Winnibriggs Festival at Wyndham Park in Grantham. Whilst bushcraft festivals around the country have for a few years included an element of prehistory, Winnibriggs (which takes it’s name from the ancient Wapentake that Grantham was once part of) was the first family festival in the country devoted to the Palaeolithic, or old stone age.
The team providing was small, the budget was a shoestring, and there was little time to get everything together, but on the two days of the event we had a “village” of simple shelters built to provide stone age jewellery making using a primitive stone tipped drill, stone age food and cooking, flint knapping, wood working, basket weaving (large and small) and an opportunity for people to have a go at archery. A big attraction for the children was our home made “cave” were they could have a go at cave painting, looking at photographs of original palaeolithic art interpreted by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteer.
The wood carving produced an ancient instrument called a bull-roarer so visitors were treated to the sound of the stone age, which for most was a completely new experience. The archery proved an new experience for many, fortunately we had volunteers young and old who were happy to help and soon complete novices were hunting down the horse, deer and aurochs targets like their ancestors of 12,500 years ago.
Local community groups, Grantham Dramatic Society and St Peter’s Hill Players were in attendance to promote their current theatrical projects, as well as having a go at the stone age activities, and the Wildlife Trust also brought a stand, adding some variety for the visitors.
Sunday saw the arrival of an entire tribe of fur clad cave people in the form of the Grantham School of Dance who put on a spectacular dance display for the crowd that had gathered.
Planning the event we had set out to bring a taste of the stone age to 300 people in Grantham. By the end of the weekend over 600 people have visited and taken part. The sight of children wearing necklaces they had made themselves, the sound of them cheering when their arrow hit the target and the display of cave art left for the future all combine to show that the effort and cost was all worthwhile. The real proof of the pudding, however, came while we were packing the event up and hearing people say “next year we can…”
Winnibriggs ’25 is already being planned, and if you want to get involved there is a Friends of Winnibriggs Festival Facebook page to help you.
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