By Kate Hodges
06th August 2020
EVENT Star Bright
The Perseids meteor shower is at its height on August 11-12. It is one of the greatest free lightshows on the planet. The skies are filled with shooting stars; take a blanket outside, lie on your backs, and watch them whoosh across the night. Find our guide to stargazing with families here. Why not go on a little camping trip to somewhere really remote and stay up all night watching them? Find the darkest-skied places here and here. Don’t forget to make a wish.
EVENT Ice Magic
Bjørk’s live shows are legendarily experimental, bold and emotionally rich. So the announcement that she is performing four concerts over August weekends with an ambitious, all-Icelandic line-up has thrilled her fans. And the good news? Anyone with a little spare cash – £15 per stream – can score front-row tickets, and there are no age limits. The afternoon events will be live streamed globally. Choose from a concert with choir and organ, with a chamber ensemble, or with a full symphony orchestra. The money raised will benefit women’s charities and to honour the black lives matter movement. Find out more here
MAKE Get The Blues
We adore making sun prints. Creating these blue-toned pictures is magical, and easy enough for even really tiny children to enjoy. Natural materials such as ferns, flowers and leaves create the most beautiful pictures; all you need to do is lay them on top of the cynatope picture (available online here), and let the sun do the rest. The prints are fixed using cold water. This great post on The Artful Parent blog not only explains the process, but also fills in some interesting background – one of the first female photographers, Anna Atkins, used cyanatope paper to document dried seaweed and algae, and her photograms were published in three books.
EVENT Pop!
The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta will be a little different this year, but no less serene, beautiful and colourful. Usually Europe’s largest hot air ballooning event has as much going on on the ground at the Ashton Court Estate as in the air. However, this year, Bristolians are invited to watch the craft soar gently across the city from their doorsteps. The balloons will float overhead on one morning to be selected between 1-14 August, plus there will be a virtual night glow event in association with BBC Radio Bristol on Saturday. Expect extra special additions to the usual spectacle as well as a soundtrack produced to lift the spirits of the city.
EVENT Get The Abbey Habit
Westminster Abbey is one of the most spectacular, history soaked buildings in Britain, if not the world. It is once more open to the public, but only through pre-booked, paid-for tickets. However, teens and kids can take advantage of the free virtual walkthroughs of the building. Learn about the Abbey’s past, why it was built, who built it and how the building makes you feel in these live, immersive tours. Choose from the History and Identity event for teens on Thursday 6 and Thursday 20 August or the Knights and Dragons tour on Thursday 6 and Thursday 13 for younger children.
What we’ve been reading this week:
Sophie Harris-Taylor’s Powerfully Vulnerable Portraits Of New Mothers Share The Emotion Around Breastfeeding
“After becoming a new mother last year, Harris-Taylor had all this to reckon with. At once liberating and restrictive, inspiring both love and resentment, for Harris-Taylor, the experience was far removed from the Madonna and child image that’s been so culturally ingrained. In an attempt to make sense of it all, she began photographing other women who have had similar stories. The result is a beautiful study of vulnerability, one that Harris-Taylor hopes can both inspire other mothers who choose to breastfeed and reassure them that they are not alone in this trying time.” Read more here
Found something inspirational to read that you’d like to share? Want to share your creations with us? Have an idea for things to do? We’d love to hear from you. Email Kate
