The kids call it the ‘ring’, it’s got a low metal boundary around it, I think that’s how it got its name. There’s some grass there and a statute of Mary where every now and then neighbours gather to say the rosary. But apart from the kids playing and the occasional prayer, the ring doesn’t get much use by the whole neighbourhood.
Until our party last year. It went great. We put up bunting, we got tables from a local community centre, lots of people came, some brought homemade food, a few bought salads and sweets, some Muslim neighbours came loaded down with rissoles to share, despite the fact it was Ramadan- the Muslim fasting period which meant they couldn’t eat. One neighbour brought hoola hoops which went down brilliantly with lots of kids competing to turn the greatest number of loops with the rings around their waists, necks and ankles.
It was great and for me, it all went by in a bit of a blur with some rain at the end, but what do you expect?
I think because the ring is where the local kids usually play, they get really excited about Streetfeast. I got to know them better, they got to know each other better and it all led up to their brilliant idea to hold a ‘Scaryfeast’ at Halloween.
For Scaryfeast we decided to have some games at the ring after they had gone around the houses to do trick or treat and stock up on sweets.
We had dunking for apples to start with - it took forever as no-one wanted to stop dunking their head into water, even after all the apples had been grabbed from the bowl of water. Then for the scary story, my favourite part: I told a story about a long-dead neighbour who haunted our neighbourhood on Halloween, passing around bits of food to make them shriek with fear (pretend and real), as, for example, I described how we found the dead man’s wizened ears as they passed dried apricots from hand to hand. Peeled grapes for his eyes went down well although they were quick to spot the damp sponge for what it was, not his brain, as I had claimed. It was a hoot.
‘Workshops, we want workshops,’ was how they decided to contribute to this year’s Streetfeast. They may be 8 and 9 years old, but they’re super organised: they have scripts printed out, a lot of energy going into what they confidently refer to as improv, and the original idea for a workshop is evolving into a short play which they might even get filmed. Rehearsals have been held in the shade of one of the trees on the ring in the weeks leading up to Street Feast.
We’re hoping for good weather this year and looking forward to lots of home-made food before the kids create a stage for high drama at the ring.
