Brightlingsea WinterFest’s big weekend of arts, crafts and wellbeing activities helped to banish winter gloom and was enjoyed by people of all ages, as well as raising more than £1,500 for the WinterFest Wellbeing Fund.
The two days of creativity, relaxation and community spirit took place at Brightlingsea Sailing Club, in the first week of WinterFest’s packed programme of arts, music, spoken word and wellbeing activities.
The arts and crafts day saw a whole host of artists and craft makers holding well attended workshops ranging from pottery to photography, collage, flower wreaths, mindful drawing, painting, sewing and textile art.
A beach school helped keep youngsters entertained whilst volunteers from WinterFest and the Sailing Club were kept busy serving refreshments.
The Wellbeing Day offered a wide range of sessions including yoga, meditation, reiki, reflexology, physiotherapy, hand massage plus demonstrations including tai chi. Safety talks were given by the RNLI and the Fire Service and a therapy dog made friends with visitors.
A Bake Off competition attracted several tasty entries and was won by Chelsea Osman with her marbled lemon and raspberry cake.
Alix Sheppard, co-founder of Brightlingsea WinterFest said: “It was an amazing weekend of creativity and wellbeing. There was an incredible atmosphere over both days and we had a lot of positive feedback from people who said they had a fantastic time.
“Everyone who took part did a fantastic job and as always the WinterFest crew pulled together to make the weekend a success. We were delighted to offer vouchers for both days to families who use the local foodbank and one mum told me they couldn’t usually go to events like this because they couldn’t afford it. They spent a whole afternoon with us doing activities and enjoying themselves.
“We were also delighted that the weekend raised more than £1,500 for the WinterFest Wellbeing Fund, which helps people in Brightlingsea to improve their mental, physical and social wellbeing.
“WinterFest is continuing throughout February and into early March, running in association with Brightlingsea Literary Festival and there are many more events to come. We hope that everyone will come and join us to help make WinterFest’s 10th anniversary extra special.”
For more details about Brightlingsea WinterFest and Brightlingsea Literary Festival’s events visit www.brightlingseawinterfest.co.uk.
