Like A Mini-Festival, But Without As Much Music

Dave Haste
By Dave Haste Last edited 214 months ago
Like A Mini-Festival, But Without As Much Music
Les Commandos Percu

If you’re thinking of going to the second day of the Paradise Gardens event today in Victoria Park, we can definitely recommend it. We checked it out yesterday, and despite the rain we found it pretty entertaining.

Some of the highlights of yesterday’s event for us were:

Get those wellies out
  • The Black Maze. Essentially, this is a small maze that is meant to be tackled by one person at a time. In complete darkness. We don’t want to give anything away, so we’ll just say that it’s a pretty cool five-minute experience. If you can handle the queue, give it a go (unless you’re claustrophobic).
  • Carter’s Steam Fair. Supposedly the world’s oldest steam funfair. Many of the rides appear to be powered by steam (or by electricity generated by steam-power). Apart from…
  • … the helter-skelter, which is powered by gravity alone. Worth a mention in its own right, solely because for 15 seconds of childish gleeful abandon we could almost believe we were Jamie, complete with Magic Torch (not included).
  • Bassline Circus. Apart from the teenage Eminem-wannabee freestyle rapper, “the new face of UK circus” is looking pretty cool. Only £3 entrance for 90 minutes of spectacular aerial acrobatics, old-skool break-dancing and decently performed classic illusions, all set to a breakbeat soundtrack. No lions, sadly.
  • Les Commandos Percu. An initially dull percussion act becomes progressively more spectacular, as a volcanic display of fireworks and pyrotechnics is unleashed in time with the beats. Worth persevering with.
  • The weather forecast is much better for today, but you might want to wear your wellies anyway so you can tackle the remnants of yesterday’s mud!

    Of course, if Paradise Gardens doesn’t take your fancy, there are plenty of other events to occupy the remainder of your weekend. Have fun!

    Thanks to Matt and Bea for the photos.

    Last Updated 28 May 2006