Frome Kindness Festival launches this weekend

The fifth Frome Kindness Festival will be running from 14th to 21st March with a range of low-cost or donation-based events across the town. 

Highlights include the Annual Kindness Festival Lecture with time traveller and community activist Rob Hopkins at The Memorial Theatre, who will invite residents to imagine a society in 2036 reoriented around kindness and care.

Festival Director Alison Murdoch said, “With everything that’s going on in the world, we need kindness more than ever and this year’s Kindness Festival aims to provide exactly that, whether it’s in the form of singing, dancing, music and comedy or thought-provoking workshops, talks and street events.”

Poetry

Hundreds of poems by children and young people will appear across the town, from shop windows and cafés to bus stops and takeaway bags, as part of the Kind Poetry project developed by The Good Heart in partnership with local schools.

The initiative will culminate on Saturday 21st March, the final day of the Kindness Festival and International Poetry Day, with a special poetry gala at Rook Lane Chapel. The evening will begin at 6pm with readings from young people, followed at 8pm by award-winning poet Rosie Jackson and guests.

Music and storytelling

South West band Seize the Day will perform at The Tunnels. Guided walks around Frome Market Place with storyteller Lisa Kenwright take place on Sunday 15th and Tuesday 17th. The Kind Lab and Imaginarium pop-up art installation on Cheap Street will explore kindness across the town.

Grief, workshops and talks

Frome Grief Network hosts Community Conversations Around Grief and Loss at Rook Lane Chapel. The YMCA will run a family fun day with crafts, games, music and tree planting. Local choirs Songbirds, Frome Youth Choir and Svitlo perform, while the Grief Opera and Barbara J Hunt’s Exploring Forgiveness workshop will provide reflection and discussion.

Window Wanderland

The popular community art project returns with a launch at Rook Lane Chapel, guided walks on Monday 16th and Friday 20th March, the Write to be Kind workshop, and Menkind, a short film exploring local men’s perspectives on kindness, at The Crown Inn at Keyford.

Comedy, talks and schools

‘Random Acts of Comedy’ at The Tunnels brings live laughter. A talk on ‘The Gift of Water’ explores Frome’s history of kindness. Schools-focused sessions include a presentation by Masha Kastner, founder of Kindwaves, sharing her experience and ideas for embedding kindness in education.

For more information and to secure your tickets check out the Frome Kindness Festival programme available at https://thegoodheart.uk and pick up a free print programme at The Good Heart, the library, town hall and other locations across town.

Pictured: Last year’s Kindness Festival finale party