the alternative bar crawl

                                      

A couple of months ago, a lovely lady called Kate contacted me to let me know about a new creative event that she, alongside others, was pioneering in Leicester.  I was asked if I would like to hold a stall for part of the evening, and I immediately said yes!  I feel that Leicester really doesn't have enough creative and exciting things going on too often, and the whole concept of ABC (the alternative bar crawl) was refreshing, and basically, sounded like a great deal of fun!

The theme of the evening was based around 1930/40s and travel.  We started off at Curve (theatre), where we could sit, drink extremely reasonably priced drinks (including cocktails) and listen to a wonderful singer playing the ukulele. 

photograph courtesy of Sam Johnson

photograph courtesy of Sam Johnson

Metro Boulot Dodo, who are based in Leicester, were also there, offering people the chance to participate in an artwork involving a rickshaw, take a look here :)

photograph courtesy of Sam Johnson

photograph courtesy of Sam Johnson

“METRO-BOULOT-DODO is one of the brightest of the new crop of theatre companies disregarding theatrical convention”The Guardian

A couple of hours passed, then it was onwards to The Phoenix, an arts cinema and digital media centre, where I set up my stall alongside a local vintage shop, a beautiful lady in a blue polka dot dress selling mix tape stories and zines, and a wonderful lady who does vintage hair and make up (and who herself, had the most incredible hair do!)  It was a great atmosphere, we all had our wares in old suitcases and the items for sale still tied in with the travel theme.  The Phoenix also had on offer some vintage style cocktails (I had maybe one too many gin based ones) and you could also purchase some vintage style food, including jam sponge and custard, mmm!  I couldn't resist getting my hair done, although my hairstyle became a bit more 1960s than 1940s, as my stupid layers restricted me from the much desired curls :(  Still, I cannot complain, my hair was done beautifully, and felt so nice!  I will have to share the contact details soon, when I can find her business card :)  

 

photograph courtesy of Sam Johnson

photograph courtesy of Sam Johnson

Final port of call was Soundhouse, a homely little pub around the corner, who provided some fantastic live music, which again, most certainly suited the theme of the evening.  The night became wonderfully weird, when you entered a different room to find a squirrel DJ and people playing scrabble and testing each others trivia!

photograph courtesy of Sam Johnson

photograph courtesy of Sam Johnson

I really did have such a great evening, and cannot wait for the next one, which will be on March 25th, and the theme will be love.  Oh, and best of all, entry to every venue was FREE!  I thoroughly recommend that anyone based in or around Leicestershire attends next time :)

The Facebook event for the next ABC can be found here.