Mary Shelley’s 216th birthday was celebrated in style in the sun at the eight Green Community Fair in Shelley Park and Theatre on Friday 30th August. Local enthusiasts and poets in period costume paraded around historic sites in Boscombe before returning to the show to perform alongside workshops and productions from local charities, writers and companies in the Theatre. The free event ran over two days and crowds of people took a break from the air show and came to the park to enjoy craft workshops, stalls and demonstrations all with an ethical and sustainable theme.
Local musical talent featured on the solar powered Stage with Chaplin’s Bar and notably comedy, cabaret and music all came together for an unusual commemoration of the life and works of Mary Shelley in an ‘New Orleans’ jazz style incarnation. Two piece guitar duo Unity & Division from Greenwich rocked out conscious songs in keeping with the environmental theme.
The free event was made possible with sponsorship from Navitus Bay Wind Park, LED-ZIP, NGPS renewable technology, energy efficient Onyx Lift Services, Chaplin’s Bar, Shelley Theatre Trust and grants from The Co-opertaive Membership and Bournemouth Council’s Green Goals Scheme.
Alongside the free entertainment and activities The Green Community Fair also provided a platform for local, regional and national charities to raise awareness and hundreds of pounds for the good causes they support helping local disabled children and children and families internationally suffering due to poverty, conflict or disaster.
Organiser Sam Monks says
“Local artists and visiting performers where utterly inspired by the works of both Shelley’s embracing the themes presented by Percy and Mary which are still as relevant in today’s society as they were in their time like the concept of nature, the natural world and what it means to us – humanity as a species, and humans as individuals. Mary Shelley invites us to reflect on Frankenstein’s failure to take care of his own creation in the right way. We need to take care of the climate, biodiversity and other environmental concerns and rather than banishing the economy or imagining we can go back into the workshop and build a new world, we have to acknowledge our own creation, teach it our best human values and take practical positive steps to help reduced the negative impact modern day living has on our environment.”
