Hanse Festival 2009- Friday

By Thursday evening, the area along the Quayside which is normally full of parked cars had started to have some wooden structures put up - more like beach huts than anything else - and Friday morning as I went out to work early I saw that all along the Quay there were signs of things about to happen.

Coming home in the early afternoon I walk down to Boal Quay and see that the Lisa Von Lubeck has its sail unfurled, with an emblem of a black eagle looking majestic in the stiff breeze we have today. Coming back towards South Quay there is a long marquee with a blacksmith working on forging iron designs, and they also have a smaller area where children can beat out their own ironwork and take it home as a souvenir. This is with real hot coals and red hot metal - if it wasn't only for kids I might have a go myself!

Then along the Quay there are various stalls and amusements, and also some charity stalls. There is the expected olive, nuts and cheese stalls and fast food stands and also a fresh cake stall, which seems to be a magnet for every bee and wasp in the county - there are certainly a lot of them! Further along and into King Staithe Square and the stage is being set up for music tonight, and there are still more food stalls.

The weather recently has been changeable - but Friday evening is calm and mild - nice for walking along the Quay in a tee-shirt. It’s getting dark now, and I understand there will be fireworks at 10pm, so I set off sown the Quay about 9.30. Most of the stalls are closed, or moved, but there are still plenty of people around walking up and down. I walk down to the Square, and there is a band performing - a group of guys in dark suites and bow ties, playing a wide variety of music. The food stalls are doing a good trade, and I assume that the novelty light people are too, judging by the number of light sabres and - hmmmm - what would they be called? A kind of rope made out of lights that kids wave energetically about.

I find out that the fireworks will not be on till 10.30, so listen to the music for a while, and then move back down the quay to wait for them to start. The clouds are moving across the moon, but still it shines off the river - it is now almost fully dark, and the closed up stalls make it darker than normal on the water side. I just stand and watch the lights on the water for a while, and then there is the first bang as the fireworks start. This is an exciting display lasting for maybe 5 minutes, and then I head back to bed - unfortunately I need to be up at 5am to go to work in the morning!