A much-loved Totnes community hub is throwing open its courtyard on the Spring Bank Holiday for a new family-friendly festival celebrating the town’s creative spirit.
The Mansion will host Sounds at The Mansion on Bank Holiday Monday, May 25, with free daytime children’s entertainment, live music, street food, local drinks and some of the town’s best-loved performers.
Taking place in The Mansion’s main courtyard just off Fore Street, the festival is a party in two parts: a free daytime session from 10.30am to 1pm, giving families a relaxed way to enjoy the bank holiday, followed by a ticketed early-evening programme from 4pm to 9pm, with exciting live music, imaginative food pop-ups, local beer, Pimm’s and prosecco.
“The morning is aimed at families who need a proper Bank Holiday breather,” said Jackie Minton from The Mansion. “We wanted to create a welcoming, good-value day out where children can enjoy some free entertainment in a safe outdoor space, while parents can sit down with coffee, food from our Canteen and a moment to themselves.”
The free daytime programme will include facepainting with Emily Grace, theatrical storytelling from Callithump, Mandi Allin with Fauna the puppet, bubble magic from Bubbles the Pixie and lunchtime tunes from the Mansion’s own Global Soul Beach Club DJ.
In the evening, the courtyard shifts gear, with a pay-what-you-feel music programme celebrating the best of Totnes’ top-notch creative scene.
The line-up includes local singer-songwriters Holly Ebony and Briony Greenhill, upbeat Afrobeat and world grooves from Shakalaka, and singalong classics from Disco Snails, part of a collective best known for packing out the Barrel House Ballroom with their recent Abba, Fleetwood Mac and Grease nights.
Among the artistic highlights will be the Totnes Vocal Improv Choir, part of Totnes’ thriving vocal improvisation scene. Led by singer, artist and teacher Briony Greenhill, the choir explores Collaborative Vocal Improvisation, an approach to singing where music is created in the moment by voices responding to one another.
Greenhill, who is based in Totnes and teaches vocal improvisation in Devon and internationally, has been described by The Guardian as “one of the world’s leading proponents of Collaborative Vocal Improvisation”.
There will also be a strong local food and drink offering, with pop-ups from Dart Oysters, serving oysters, scallops and ceviche, plus Iranian and Greek street food, and hot toasties from the Toastie Girls.
Drinks will include local brews from Copperhead Brewery, plus Pimm’s and prosecco from The Mansion bar.
The festival follows a busy year for The Mansion, which recently celebrated the installation of 77 community-funded solar panels on the roof of Totnes Library.
“The Mansion belongs to the town,” adds Jackie. “It is a place where people learn, meet, organise, rehearse, repair, create and gather. Sounds at The Mansion is our way of opening the doors and reminding people that this building is a living, breathing community space.”
The daytime session is free. Evening tickets are available on a pay-what-you-feel basis.
SOUNDS AT THE MANSION
Bank Holiday Monday, 25 May
The Mansion, 36 Fore Street, Totnes
Daytime family session: 10.30am to 1pm, free
Evening music session: 4pm to 9pm, pay what you feel
themansiontotnes.org