Introducing the Waveney Revels - a Waveney-wide celebration of creative and cultural enterprise, fun, passions and enthusiasms, running for an amazing 35 spring days.

Bold in both ambition and scale, the Waveney Revels reveals and explores the vast range of arts and heritage activity and diversity across Waveney, in north east Suffolk, from April 1- May 5, 2008 - and hopefully will become a new annual tradition.

As internationally renowned film actor Robin Williams famously said – “spring is nature's way of saying, ‘Let's party!’”

And the Revels party offers international input including Kiev Singers and the Hermitage Ensemble; comedy greats including Ken Dodd, Jimmy Carr and Nicholas Parsons; at least one world premiere musical; and a host of especially created or programmed events including Waveney’s resident musicians – no less than the internationally acclaimed Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Talks walks, bike rides and edible events sit happily alongside literary happenings and quality theatre. And the Revels reveal the huge range of activities to be regularly enjoyed week in week, out Waveney-wide.

Most importantly the Revels are designed for Waveney residents and visitors to explore something different, go somewhere unusual, do something new. Hopefully the Revels will show the arts and heritage are at the heart of everyday life – for pleasure, for work, for learning, for all - and demonstrate the efforts and energies of professional businesses and impressive, quality individual and community ventures.

Events can be added continuously, so view regularly for updates – and if you spot mistakes or missing events please let us know.

Did You Know?

In days gone by the main reason for discovering and exploring foreign lands was not to help the people. The majority were probably happy with the simple life they lived and had no desire to alter their ways or beliefs.

Many of the children in poorer countries now have to work for a pittance, as do whole families. The changes were thrust on them by the Traders and Missionaries who followed on the heels of the explorers. With false promises and small gifts they taught them to want more than they had and then went on to show them ways they could get it. This was with little or no consideration for their fellows and often turned them against one another.

At times even their own families were pushed aside. It’s not difficult to see where the greed that is now the bane of our Society originated. Fortunately, we no longer barter for human beings: -- Or do we!?

It took many years before our developing Society decided it was wrong to work young boys in the coal mines, climbing up inside chimneys and other dirty and tedious jobs. How long will it be before the whole world recognises that all children, regardless of who they are or where they live, have their place and part to play in this game we call living. Exploitation must not even be a consideration! They should be loved, nurtured and guided until the time comes to prepare them for their role in perpetuating the human race. It is important they inherit a world that is capable of fulfilling not only their needs but also those of the inhabitants of every continent.

This unreasonable desire we have to want more has gone on unchecked under many guises for so long there are now only very small areas left in the world unaffected by man’s greed. No matter how strong and genuine our urge might be to make amends and put right all the damage that has been done, it is impossible to turn the clock back.

As the net of greed and envy spreads, people who depended on their environment for survival have nothing else to turn to. When it is no longer capable of supporting them many are forced to leave their homeland and make for towns and cities where they are obliged to do any kind of work that’s on offer to earn enough just to live. Often the whole family, no matter how young, have to play their part.

This isn’t something new! Rapid progress made the entire world easily accessible at the time when Western Culture was demanding more and more of everything. It might have been the easy profit and fortunes amassed from the slave trade that motivated the exploitation of the people in less developed countries. Faced with the problem of trying to satisfy those ever growing needs it became necessary to accelerate the whole process. For generations the civilised world has been happy to turn a blind eye regardless of the consequences while they enjoyed the benefits of cheap and out of season goods.

It is only now when they have been made aware of global warming and how we are accomplishing the destruction of our planet that everyone is agreed something must be done.

Unfortunately, it is probably too late! Unleaded petrol and a few economical light bulbs are hardly going to replace the rain forests. Which by the way, are still being chopped down with the same fervour while a large proportion of the wood continues to find its way into this Country.

What will people use as an alternative when the supply dries up? Already, some areas have only a small percentage of their trees left and even if they had been replanting those they cut down one for one, it would be fifty years or more before the forests were restored.

Much of the land that’s left is little or no good for anything else. In certain places olive trees are being planted in the clearings but while this might provide another source for oil, it doesn’t seem much in the way of recompense for the destruction of everything that’s necessary to support, not just human life but the whole surface of the planet.

All we can do is to continue to protest and make our own personal contributions in any way we can.

Then, while we sit in a barely warm room straining our eyes under economy lights we can read about a famous seaside town who are about to cheer us all up by restoring the decorative lights to their former glory all along the sea front.


valley lad - [FORTY-THREE]