It started very grey and wet, and we were worried that people wouldn’t come, but rain never stops play and come they did. We had a prime position next to lots of other interesting stalls; with even a bit of competition from a glitter metallic tattoo stall that was opposite.

After we were all set up we had a look around and were amazed at how big the festival was. It seemed to go on forever and was packed full of yummy food, rides and stalls doing everything from spinning art to tombolas. We spotted quite a few of our friends: Men in Sheds had an amazing giant wooden duck that they were pushing around and Care and Repair had a fantastic stall right down near the abbey. 

As always our tattoos were a great success. We had a queue of people at one point desperate to get one. We also had our friend Peter Howarth with us who was taking lots of cool photos that we can share on social media to show people what we’ve been doing. We had lots of people chatting to us about their experiences with loneliness and how they felt some of their elderly relatives may be struggling. We even had someone ask us for a job!

Kirkstall was the biggest festival we’ve done so far and one of the best. Although the weather wasn’t great (English summers) we had our little gazebo and the smiles on everybody’s faces soon brightened the mood. We had lots of visitors including our own Sean Tunnicliffe and Bill Rollinson as well as Susan Chesters and a gaggle of small boys belonging to me.

Next up: Leeds Pride. The tattoos have had a Pride friendly revamp and the bunting is being knitted. 

Email Hanna@opforum.org.uk to find out more and get involved with our summer of adventure.