Fancy an evening stroll in a town where illuminated art lights up the darkness? A magical moonlit wander, where house windows showcase the imaginations of the families who live inside, or simple ways to be part of something wonderful?
Well, if this sounds right up your street, and you fancy seeing Frome in a different light ;), we've been chatting to Lisa Glass, co-organiser of the Frome Window Wanderland. To discover more about the event and how you can get involved, here's Lisa's Four Thoughts - her answers to the four questions we thought you'd love us to ask.
1. Can you tell us a bit about the Frome Window Wanderland and what makes it so special?
Frome Window Wanderland is a fun community event where anyone can make a display in their window (or garden) and light it up for others to wander around and enjoy. It aims to bring together people of all ages, and encourages neighbours to get together with other residents to light up their streets. Meeting and chatting with other neighbours, helps encourage a real sense of community spirit across Frome. Last year we had 180 windows take part, and this year we hope to have even more!
This year's event is happening on Friday 1st, Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd March from 5.30pm until 9.00pm each evening. We successfully pitched for support in the Frome Town Council's People’s Budget last March, so it's completely free to take part - and free to go wandering on the evenings of the event.
2. How can people get involved if they'd like to - either in decorating their windows, coming to see the windows during the Window Wanderland, or making sure the event happens again next year?
If you would like to create a display, you can register it on our website www.windowwanderland.com/event/frome-2019. All those that registered by the 11th February will be included on the printed map produced for free. Anyone registering after that will still be included on the online map. Maps will be available to pick up from Black Swan Arts, the Town Hall and the Library.
What goes into the displays is totally up to the people creating them... from a string of fairy lights to a band playing in the living room, from simple to spectacular! As long as it’s family friendly, anything goes. We also welcome displays in schools, shops, offices and cafés, as we really want to light up all of Frome.
If you'd like to just get out to see some of the displays on the evenings of Frome Window Wanderland, you can pick up a map, look online and get wandering!
We're really hoping that the Frome Window Wanderland will become an annual event in the town. We're pitching for funding for 2020 from Frome Town Council's People's Budget, so people can also get involved by going online during the first two weeks of March and voting for us. We'd love your support. There's more information about the People's Budget Events here: https://www.frometowncouncil.gov.uk/your-community/peoples-budget/peoples-budget-events/
3. What were some of your favourite windows last year?
It's really hard to say, as every window looks brilliant when it's dark outside and they are lit up. Some of the highlights for me were the number of houses on Nunney Road who got involved. It actually felt like a bit of a street party going on, as there were so many houses taking part and so many people walking round, looking at the windows and chatting! There was a beautiful underwater fish taking over a bay window down Willow Vale, Pepperbox Nursery on Clink Road got all the children involved in producing the fabulous Very Hungry Caterpillar story across all their windows, there was a great Lego tower on Somerset Road, a Ghostbusters display on Critchill Road and a stunning silhouetted tropical scene down Victoria Road.
4. Tell us a secret about the Window Wanderland that no-one else knows.
It's not a secret, but not everyone knows that Window Wanderland was originally started in 2015 in Bishopston, Bristol, by Lucy Reeves-Khan. There are now lots of Window Wanderland events happening all over the UK. It's also gone 'international' with a Window Wanderland happening in James Bay, Canada later in February and two events happening in France - one near Paris and one near Lyon!
Well, we're not surprised it's going global as it's such a lovely, creative way of bringing communities together - and we can't wait to wander around in early March.
If you fancy signing up to the event and creating a window display of your own, it's not too late. Just visit Frome Window Wanderland 2019. You can also contact Lisa on fromewindowwanderland@gmail.com and follow them on Twitter and Instagram.