Flock to Ossett, a celebration of creative spirit.

Guest blogger, Jo Throup (@jojiebean), flocks to Ossett . . .

I used to work in Ossett in my former life as a transportation data collection assistant (that is a real job, by the way – it involves watching videos of traffic junctions, and recording the direction of vehicles and yes, it is every bit as exciting as it sounds). I’d spend my lunch break wandering into the town centre – I don’t remember too much about the town, except that it had its own Thomas the Tank Engine shop – a whole shop dedicated to Thomas the Tank Engine paraphernalia.

So when Kill Furby asked me if I knew where Ossett was and would I like to do a review of an up and coming event there, I accepted. ‘Excellent.’ he said. ‘You can be our Ossett correspondent – check out ‘Flock to Ossett’, last I heard they were doing something with ukuleles.’

In my new role as the Culture Vultures Ossett correspondent and investigative journalist into all that was local wool events, I emailed the event organiser, Jacqui Wicks, to let her know I’d be coming. She told me the main event would be ‘The Big Sheep Parade’ which started around lunchtime. I was intrigued as to what the might involve, and I needed to commandeer a friend to bring with me.

‘You know how you like knitting and ukuleles?’ I asked my friend Martha.

‘Er… yeah…?’

‘Well, there’s a festival of knitting and ukuleles happening this weekend.’

‘Knitting and ukuleles?’

‘Yes. I know what you’re thinking – that these two things don’t really go together, but for one day only, they will be celebrated in unison in the wonderful town of Ossett.’

‘Where’s that?’

‘It’s near Wakefield, it isn’t very far away.’

‘Well, I can see why I would be the obvious choice. Knitting and ukuleles are two of my favourite things.’

‘I know. This festival is practically in honour of you.’

‘…”

‘But it isn’t – because it’s about Ossett.’

We arrive in the town centre and (like tourists) we take pictures of the guerrilla knitting covering the trees, lampposts and… bicycles.

It’s a bright, sunny day and the town square is packed with market stalls selling local crafts and (of course) wool products. We see a woman with a spinning wheel, talking some interested bystanders through the process, but we don’t stay for long as it’s almost time for The Big Sheep Parade, so we head over to a small side street – which is crammed with people and… sheep. Not real sheep, bright colourful sheep that have been created in workshops in schools and community groups, delivered by Faceless Community Arts Group (who were also running creative workshops on the day).

As everyone lines up for the parade (preparing to ‘Flock to Ossett’) a grey cloud looms overhead. And then it starts spitting.

“IT’S JUST A SHOWER!” shouts a voice from the crowd. “DO NOT PANIC!”

Everyone holds their breath. Luckily, it’s just a shower, it passes and the sheep are still dry and intact. A whistle blows, and a group of kids (all wearing handcrafted cardboard sheep on their heads) bang drums leading the precession into the town as proud parents and grandparents look-on and take photos. I’m sorry to get all soppy here, but there’s something excessively lovely about communities coming together like this. The object of ‘Flock to Ossett’ was to bring people together to celebrate the history of their town, and seeing so many people enthusiastically taking part was a rare and brilliant thing to witness.

Anyway, back to Saturday – the parade is in full swing and I’m busy trying to take photos of all the different sheep (rainbow sheep, Olympic sheep, woolly sheep, dazed and confused sheep) dancing through the town. The parade ends outside the Town Hall, where everyone gathers for photos. The percussion players reach a crescendo and everyone cheers.

The rain holds off for a while, and outside the Faceless arts tent 30 kazoos are handed out to aspiring kazoo players in preparation for the ‘Mass Ukulele Jam’. My friend Martha has brought her ukulele with her – ready to join in, and I’m amazed at how many others have done the same (has Ossett got an underground sub-culture of ukulele players?). And as the parents of Ossett fear that they will be hearing kazoos long into the night (and probably for the next week or so too), and the assortment of ukulele players gather, it happens. The heavens open (and this time, it’s more than just a shower).

Not to be deterred by the downpour, the ukulele/kazoo jam goes ahead with renditions of ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’, ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘The Locomotion’ – all of which incorporate a ‘kazoo’ solo. Sadly, the ukulele jam has to be cut short – the ukulele players (ukulelers?!) are struggling to read their soggy sheet music. So the jam comes to a close with ‘Bring Me Sunshine’ – and Martha joins in for the second half.

Despite the rain impinging on the ukulele jam, ‘Flock to Ossett’ was a great success. It made me see Ossett in a different way, and it was really great to see the community get involved, get creative and reconnect with their town’s history. Perhaps when I think of Ossett from now on, I won’t think of spreadsheets and VHS tapes of traffic junctions, a Thomas the Tank Engine shop and an empty town square – I’ll think of multi-coloured sheep, wool covered bicycles, kazoos and ukuleles.