Bush Festival draws masses to the Green

The Bush Festival has filled Shepherd's Bush Green with what I estimated to be a couple of thousand people over the course of the afternoon to listen to a series of music acts on stage, take part in a drumming workshop run by some seriously impressive drummers from Ghana and many more stands.



My own offspring were particularly impressed with the gargantuan bouncy castle (which was free) but a little less so by the teacup ride which lasted about 1 minute. At £1.50 a throw this was a nice little earner! Face painters, clowns and a football training class combined with African and West Indian food, to keep them more than happy.

For the grown ups there was all that plus the chance to talk to the volunteers putting on Oxjam Shepherd's Bush in October, the Bush Theatre (who had a theatrically arranged front room set on the Green, dahling) and several local voluntary groups including a Buddhist peace group handing out friendship bracelets.

And a last word for the Police, who were there in numbers but in no way obtrusively. After the events of what has been a genuinely bizarre week, which has seen many of our local officers sent off on riot duty in some of the worst hit parts of the capital, I hope they enjoyed it as much as they could while on duty.