and the carnival swayed in the sun...

It is not until you are actively involved in an outdoor event that you really take notice of what our weather system has up it's varied sleeves.

We all know the weather has been described as 'changeable' over the past week or so, and therefore it was with distinct trepidation that I looked out of the window on a sunday morning a little while ago (at 5.45am) to see if the sun was out.

It wasn't, and my heart sank.


Why? This particular sunday was the Brighton Carnival.


A day of whistle blowing, massive costumes, rum and fresh coconuts was planned to be a day basking in the seaside sunshine, and instead it looked as though it was going to be washed into the gutter with the remnants of the saturday night revellers.




But, as I believe that everything comes right in the end, I trundled up to the workshop where I had been making green bunting until 1am the same morning to finish off the 33m I had set to achieve. I also made a green union jack to add to our stand (and on that front, look here for the most ridiculous and infuriating story I have heard in a while).

After an hour of bunting making in the grey halflight cast inside by the drizzle, I looked up to see a single shaft of light piercing through the window. All was to be well...



The day ended up being glorious, if not a little breezy (which we Brightonians are very used to - the sea gale we call a 'small tidal breeze').

We had booked a stand on the Madeira Drive strip in the eco festival section - The Green Wave Festival, and we had wonderful neighbours, including Herbal Haven, The Eco Garage and Nicola Thompson Architects.

Our stand was showcasing our little eco teardrop trailer, The Green Bean on it's official launch in the sun, and was a picture of green and eco loveliness on the beach, bedecked with my bunting.

We had a massive amount of interest in the Green Bean and were rushed off our feet from around 12 midday until we closed up shop at about 8pm, collapsing back at home too tired to eat.


The day was wonderful - busy, sunny, with fantastic live music, brilliant costumes and the eclectic mix of characters that fill our brilliant city. If you did not come this year, save the date for next year - you will have a ball...





PS - the green bean now has it's very own website - AND blog - campfire stories! where we will be posting our adventures, tours, trips and tips, recipes and hidden UK gems...come with us as we reclaim the Great British Holiday, the eco way!