Still thinking that London must be full of cool community festivals, I keep venturing out to ones that sound promising. One weekend, my best bet was the
Waterloo Food Festival, mainly because it had the word
food in the title; plus, it was direct train ride away from my neighborhood. But when I showed up at the
Lower Marsh Market, all I found was a bunch of classic cars lining the streets alongside a sparse, none-too-impressive farmer's market. Turns out, this festival was
much like the Streatham Food Festival, with special offers in area food establishments. In fact, even the non-food establishments were offering samples; after I bought a travelogue at the
Travelling Through bookstore, I was offered a piece of cake.
I didn't want my trip to Waterloo to be a total waste, so I struck out to find
The King's Arms, a historic watering hole a few blocks off Waterloo Road (left). This down-to-earth pub is situated on
Roupell Street, a row of worker's houses developed in the 1820s by wealthy gold refiner John Roupell. The laidback atmosphere was reason enough to linger a while, but I was also pleasantly surprised by the range of local craft beers on tap. I had a pint of
Mosaic pale ale by
Kernel Brewery, a perfect blend of English bitter and American hoppy ale sensibilities, in my opinion. Also available were a
Cowcatcher American pale ale and a
Jamboree blond ale by
East London Brewing, a
Chieftain IPA by
Franciscan Well Brewery, an
Urban Dusk ESB by
Redemption Brewing, a
Mud Slinger chocolate milk stout by
Wild Weather Ales, and a
medium cider by
Malvern Magic. I was satisfied with my earlier, free slice of cake, but if I had still been hungry, I could've ordered some Thai from the adjacent
Kanchana's Kitchen (right).
Just when I was about to give up, I gave festival-hunting one last shot and finally found the motherlode, at the
Lambeth Country Show. By early afternoon,
Brockwell Park was layered in people for this annual event -- part amusement park, part petting zoo, part food market, part music festival, part sports exhibition, part all-day boozer.
July and August are the
prime months for county fairs in Ohio, so this "country show" made me feel at home, right down to the community competitions, including for best vegetables (top left). Many of the competitors appeared to have adopted a film and TV entertainment theme. Among the scarecrow entries, set up to keep winged pests away from
Brockwell Hall, was a two-for-one
Titanic structure (top right). And sitting on the
vegetable sculpture table was
Game of Thrones' Jon Snowbergine, made from eggplant and carrots (bottom).
In another fantastical submission, corn and watermelon were used to make a fake unicorn, but there were plenty of real animals on hand, too. If you gave a donation to
Berkley Owls, you got to hold one of their charges (left). In the
Gate and West arena, your money got you a donkey ride (right).
In the "farm" area, I found the traditional
4-H-like pens of animals, mostly goats and sheep from
Brymills Livestock, some of which were award-winning (left). Right next door, a few ewes were willingly being sheared in
The Sheep Show, a kind of free ovine peep show (right).
The kids in attendance were getting their kicks on the many rides. If it weren't for the The Shard in the background, I might've thought the high-flying swings were from the
Ohio State Fair midway (left). I was quite drawn to the giant inflatable slide, which brought back youthful memories of getting friction burns from sliding down a plastic one in a burlap sack (right).
However, I opted for the entertainment for adults, a variety of bands performing reggae, funk, soul, and jazz (left). The tunes were mostly background music, as I was distracted by my dinner: a
hog roast in a bun, basically pork pulled from a whole spit-roasted pig covered with crispy crackling, savory stuffing, and chunky applesauce (right).
If there had been some country-music acts and some tractor pulls, I could've sworn I was smack dab in the middle of the
Richland County Fairgrounds -- with a few exceptions. Although I distinctly remember locking myself in the cage of the
Zipper ride during my days cruising the county fair, I don't recall there ever being a
Skyfall zipline (top left). And there definitely were no free massages on offer in any of the outbuildings (top right). But most of all, I am absolutely certain that there were no cider, cocktail, and beer stands from which one could buy a
Meantime Brewing London Lager (bottom).
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