Focus entirely on Frome this week, with the Frome Shop Local day on Saturday ~ an exciting range of performances in nine different venues throughout the day.
With puppetry, poetry, and fantastic music in shops and cafes throughout the town, totalling six hours of free entertainment for all. We had Pete Gage, Nikki & Griff, and Dexters' Extra Breakfast with our croissants and coffee, Vikki Burke's harp and Gina Allen singing up the hill, Eddie Martin rocked Raves from the Grave, Annie Aldam held the children rapt in Ellenbray, and here's Hannah Teasdale in Hunting Raven Books and Al O'Kane in Frome Wholefoods. Big thanks to the town council, this was a great initiative which will hopefully be repeated next year even bigger and better!
Moving on to art: two exhibition openings The Binding Grid of Creative Connection from Bridport artist David Smith, promoted by Black Swan Arts, is featured at the Round Tower and represents for the artist 'a celebration of the affirming nature of my experience of Twitter' to collect work on the theme of 'black squares black lines and black magic.' Frome painter Amy Yates, in contrast, uses lucent & evocative colour for her images of Frome: her work is displayed in the Grain Bar throughout November, with cards for sale. Local drama company Tic Tac Toe were at Frome's Merlin Theatre with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) ~ a lighthearted, often witty, sometimes very funny, deconstruction of the bard's themes & works that always entertains a young audience. For the more sophisticated, there was exotic dance at the Silk Mill with an amazing Bollywood routine.
And finally, in international news: one week after Frome Town Council won Council of the Year in the National Association of Local Councils’ Awards comes news that Frome, in its entirety, is now officially the greatest town in the country. The Great Town Award 2016, identified by the Academy of Urbanism, looks for places with 'innovation and excellence in all aspects of urbanism' and Frome's list of achievements were recognised to include: progressive & caring work of the Town Council, exceptional cultural & community opportunities, sympathetic blending of new with old (many listed) buildings, lively events in the town centre (Frome Independent Market has been voted one of the best in the country by Observer Food Magazine), 'astonishing' commercial vitality & a vibrant independent retail sector, and 'impressive' response to environmental issues. No better way to end this post than in the words of Cllr Pippa Goldfinger, accepting on behalf of the town:
‘Many people in Frome have long felt that it is a great town but the secret is now out. This new award owes much to the spirit of community, innovation and enterprise in the town and I am certain that the people of Frome will be very proud that their efforts have received such national recognition.’
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