Big Way Of Life

Ceredigion's Healthy Together Programme recently commissioned the Centre for Performance Research (CPR) to design a project for groups of young people that could explore issues of healthy eating through performance.

In April five community groups from Llanarth, New Quay, Landysul, Penparcau and Cellan each began a ten week process of working with an arts facilitator to design the menu and setting for a feast.

To find inspiration for their feasts the children investigated tastes and smells never before encountered and delved into history, far away cultures, myth and fairytale. They packaged these experiences and their ingredients up into boxes, which were then delivered to one of the other five communities to be opened and enjoyed.

The groups then took part in a final performative feast at the Memorial Hall in Aberaeron. It was a fantastic event filled with various sights, smells and sounds and featured a lively and vivid performance from CPR. The children were mesmerised by the show, which really helped them to explore a variety of new and different foods.

Here is the journey that the groups went through...

Tylwyth Teg Feast – Cellan Home Education Group

"The feast we created together for the Llanarth group was inspired by Welsh Fairy legend. The food was based on local Welsh foods and included lavabread cakes and a jelly that contained hand picked wild rose flowers. We made it as magical as possible, including "supersense" games, a fairy altar, handmade Tylwyth Teg masks and ritual performance. It started with the feast being contained in a padlocked suitcase with a combination lock. The children were asked to decipher the code from the passaged from Welsh legend, so there was an educational element too! We even made edible oat cake plates!" Anna Clarke, Arts Facilitator for the Cellan Home Education Group

The Wren's Feast – Llandysul Primary School Group and Llandysul Family Centre Group

"The feast created for the New Quay Group was inspired by the tradition of hunting wrens on St Stephen's Day. The children were taken back to a time when wren hunting used to take place and asked to re-enact this tradition, finding 28 wrens which are then held captive upside down in a golden cage.

"Performers dressed as four blind ravens arrive to change the course of history and the children ho have been hunting wrens are turned into birds. The 'birds' prepared a feast with four elements: an aperitif of flowered cordial, a salad of herbed mini tomatoes, a main course of glittering quail eggs and a sweet of 'popping' strawberries.

"The birds were turned back into children to consume the feast and to learn the lesson "whosoever robs the wren's nest shall never have health in his life". The feast concluded when the wrens were ceremonially released from their cages into the individual care of each of the children." Guy Norman, Arts Facilitator for the two Llandysul groups

The Beast's Feast – Lwyn-yr-Eos Primary School Group, Penparcau and After School Club, Penparcau

"Both groups explored stories related to a labyrinth. We looked at shepherd's stories from Wales, the Cretan Labyrinth. We decided to create a feast for Cellan that was appropriate for vegans and enjoyable for ourselves.

"Each part of the Thai lentil coconut stew was analysed as a part of the beast's body that had been found in the labyrinth. We wanted Cellan to enjoy physical activity through games played in the labyrinth. This enabled them to win the ingredients to recreate the beast as something to eat." Steve Davis, Arts facilitator for the two Penparcau groups

Wild Food Feast – Llanarth Wild Food Group

"Inspired by a series of wild food walks, our feast evolved throughout the three months. We used natural and foraged materials which we collected during our sessions. We tried to convey this process in our box, making a table cloth to illustrate the area where our sessions took place and finishing with a treasure hunt, to transport the group we passed to (Llandysul) out into nature, to forage for wild treats." Jade Mellor, Arts Facillitator Llanarth Wild Food Group

The Dragonets Unfolding Feast – New Quay Primary School Group

"The New Quay group compared the feasts and ceremonies of Japan and Wales. They realised that although there were interesting differences that could be explored further, there were also many things shared by the cultures of Japan and New Quay such as a history of dragon mythology and a past that depended on the sea as a major source of food. The children went on expeditions to collect their own food from the sea, they harvested seaweed and learnt how to fillet fish, tried Japanese nori and Welsh lavabread and developed their own seaweed smoothies and caw dumplings. They also investigated Japanese food packaging and developed their own logo and wrappings for the Panparcau feast." Vicky Wilson, Arts Facilitator, New Quay Primary School Group

The feast was a fantastic event and will no doubt be the talk of the project for a long time to come.