If you're feeling your age, then you'll have fun this weekend. Two events have been noted on the Londonist radar and both concern the silver end of the social spectrum. First up for your diary is Bells of Shoreditch on Saturday, a durational performance installation in St Leonard's Church, along Shoreditch High Street. As part of the Shoreditch Festival , performance and installation artist Anne Bean has gathered a diverse group of women to join her in a three-hour long event that involves balloons, songs and flowery dresses. Visitors have the chance to pick up scissors and cut up fabric while the women sing lullabies in as many different languages as possible. The whole thing recalls old-fashioned sewing circles and mother and baby groups; holding this event in St Leonard's Church is also redolent of old London, old ways and traditions we've abandoned in the current age as St Leonard's Church is the one in the rhyme...
Gay go up and gay go down
To Ring the Bells of London Town
"Oranges and Lemons" say the Bells of St. Clements
"Bullseyes and Targets" say the Bells of St. Margaret's
"Brickbats and Tiles" say the Bells of St. Giles
"Halfpence and Farthings" say the Bells of St. Martin's
"Pancakes and Fritters" say the Bells of St. Peter's
"Two Sticks and an Apple" say the Bells of Whitechapel
"Maids in white aprons" say the Bells at St. Katherine's
"Pokers and Tongs" say the Bells of St. John's
"Kettles and Pans" say the Bells of St. Anne's
"Old Father Baldpate" say the slow Bells of Aldgate
"You owe me Ten Shillings" say the Bells of St. Helen's
"When will you Pay me?" say the Bells of Old Bailey
"When I grow Rich" say the Bells of Shoreditch
"Pray when will that be?" say the Bells of Stepney
"I do not know" say the Great Bell of Bow
Gay go up and gay go down
To Ring the Bells of London Town
Entry is free and visitors are free to come and go while the performance takes place.
Sunday is your chance to see just how old you are and how young you feel: the Capital Age Festival is back for another big band and blast from the past blow-out on Coin Street. The programme is packed and very lively - lots of jiving, lindy hop and live, outdoor performances and exhibitions. There are plenty of opportunities to sit down and have a cup of tea, we expect there'll be lots of cake and many, many stories about the war, about the old days, about how things were done back then. Put on your best silk stockings with the seam up the back or polish your dancing shoes and put on your spats - this is one weekend for growing old gracefully and in the groove.
Bells of Shoreditch at St Leonard's Church, Shoreditch High Street, Saturday 18 August, 2pm to 5pm, free. For more information, go to the event website here.
Capital Age Festival at Bernie Spain Gardens near the Oxo Tower, Sunday 19 August, 2pm to 6pm, free. For more information, go to the festival website here.
Image of Shoreditch Church by Mister-E, courtesy of the Creative Commons licence.
