A festival that celebrates a Bungay legend has enjoyed a series of sell-out events and packed venues.
The Black Shuck Festival took over Bungay last weekend.
It was a celebration of the historical legend that has lent itself to centuries of artistic imaginings and the unique character of Bungay.
The legend recounts how, during a dry lightning storm on the evening of August 4, 1577, a wild black dog entered Bungay's St Mary's Church, attacking and killing four worshippers, and then vanished.
Bungay’s Black Shuck Festival kicked off last Friday with an all day drop-in workshop at St Mary’s Church that saw over 50 children throughout the day busily creating artwork of Bungay’s 'Black Dog' or the church’s stained glass windows while listening to family-friendly stories.
Organised by the Churches Conservation Trust, organisers said it was a great way for children to have fun at the beginning of their summer holidays.
The evening saw Black Shuck himself interviewed as part of the sold-out cabaret at the Fisher Theatre.
Lounging comfortably on his sofa, he was most surprised when the interviewer brought on surprise guests – his victims from the killings in the church.
On Saturday virtuoso William Fergusson gave a concert in St Mary’s Church and then due to the bad weather the parade and the carnival on the Castle Bailey were moved at the last minute to the Fisher Theatre.
The Green Children giants and the Queen paraded, the Samba band played, James Mayhew told and illustrated the Black Dog of Bungay story and the audience put their demon cards onto the funeral pyre to banish their own personal demons for another year.
Fire sprites also danced while the effigy of Shuck was also ritually and symbolically burned.
Polly Wright, one of the festival’s organisers, said: “Thanks to the incredible Fisher team and all the artists, helpers and community as Saturday afternoon became the most brilliant thing in the face of adverse and stressful conditions.”
There were two evening events on the Saturday, the Straunge & Terrible Wunder at St Mary’s followed by the Black Dog Disco in the cellar of the Three Tuns.
At St Mary’s the audience was treated to a varied programme with a poem written and performed by 11-year old Juniper Timberlake accompanied by Black Shuck parading up and down the aisle.
The audience was delighted by music from Martin Newell and his Hosepipe Band, the ever-popular Willpower and The Feathered Thorns.
Running up and down the aisles, clambering over the pews and sitting on audience members' laps, Black Shuck himself did his best to distract from the telling of his story by the Rev Abraham Fleming, performed by stand-up comedian Stewart Lee.
The Fisher Theatre was also sold-out for performances of Pinocchio from the Norwich Puppet Theatre and Little Shuck and His Friends, written by Victoria Panton-Bacon, with music from William Drew-Batty and the children who had attended the special workshop at Artistic Fields studio.
The final event – and another sell-out – was upstairs at the Three Tuns where Helen Bruce gave a talk on the folklore surrounding Black Dog myths and legends and Christopher Reeve spoke of Bungay’s notorious characters from the past – and the ghosts who to this day haunt the Three Tuns.
Throughout the festival the organisers ran a pop-up shop in Market Place and two art exhibitions, one in the Bell Gallery in Earsham Street and at the Three Tuns, all with a Black Shuck or folklore theme.
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