FROME Window Wanderland will be back next year on Friday 1st to Monday 4th March.
The event invites all residents of Frome to make displays in their windows or gardens that will then form a magical trail which can be explored by the whole community from 6pm to 10pm each evening.
Thanks to funding from Frome Town Council and Frome Active Sports Trust, plus sponsorship from Frome Medical Practice and Flow Bar, organisers have said there will be a whole host of workshops in the lead up to the event to help you get your windows ready.
“What goes into the displays is totally up to you: from a string of fairy lights to a band playing in the living room, from simple to spectacular,” says one of the organisers, Susie Temple.
“Imagine walking around your streets at night and seeing your neighbourhood in a whole new light. Window Wanderland is a fun community project that started in Bristol in 2015, with amazing results, and was taken up in Frome in 2018. Over 1,500 Frome residents have joined in since then! The event was paused in 2023 while new organisers were recruited but will be back with a bang in 2024.
“We literally can’t wait to get this up and running again, it’s such a fun community event that the whole family can take part in. Even if you don’t think of yourself as ‘arty’ it doesn’t matter – the point is to create joy and fun for your neighbourhood. It can be a window full of balloons, you can hang up your favourite clothes (maybe make them look like they’re dancing), you could put up a joke or a message of hope, you can even project a film. As long as it’s family friendly – anything goes!”
Susie says that already a whole host of exciting projects are coming together to take part.
“We already have 49 windows signed up, which is fantastic so early on. From this we know that we’ve got a Dementia Group – Wild Memories – coming together to make windows, which is lovely!” says fellow organiser Tori Allison. “We’ve also got charities and businesses such as We Hear You, SHARE, Frome Medical Practice, 23 Bath Street and Cherry Tree Childminding signed up already. We know that local choir Jackdaws Songbirds are planning a singing walk around the trail. We’ve even got another arts project from Mothership called ‘Inside Out’ joining the trail too – it sounds brilliantly bonkers so I’m excited to see what they come up with.”
Mothership founder Jess Francombe said, “‘Inside Out’ will invite you to look a little closer at domesticity and motherhood here in Frome, from the mundane, repetitive, isolation of ‘babydom’ to the wild, messy, outrageous heights. Dance in a kitchen disco belting out songs with a whisk, have a private concert by candlelight, see startling photography projected 10 metres high and listen to hidden audioscapes of lives past and present.”
Another member of the team organising the event, Katie Marshall says the most important thing is that absolutely everyone and anyone in Frome can take part. “Want to big up your football team? Do it! Got a charity or cause you need the people of Frome to know about – make a display! Just want to create something that will make others smile? That’s what we need! The trail gets thousands of people walking around so it’s the perfect opportunity to get our community together,” says Katie.
“We want to make this event as big and brilliant for our community as possible so if you’re a business owner in a position to sponsor the event, we’d love to hear from you! We really want to help businesses in Frome too, so if you’re planning to stay open any of the evenings of the trail get in touch and we’ll let our followers know. You can contact us on: fromewindowwanderland@gmail.com”
It’s easy to put your house on the map if you want to make a display. Visit the event here: https://www.windowwanderland.com/event/frome-2024/ You can also see display ideas and join the community on Facebook and Instagram: @fromewindowwanderland. Details of workshops will be available on social media soon, please see:
www.facebook.com/fromewindowwanderland / www.instagram.com/fromewindowwanderland
“Which event sums up community and creativity better than Window Wanderland?” (The Sunday Times)
