Inflatable Whales and Musical Buses - it's the Junction Arts Festival!

What a splendid day we’ve had! With Hobart becoming a very buzzy centre of all things arts in Tasmania, it’s great to see Launceston getting its own festival together.


Not only are we up for it, I gave the kids the day off school and we went into town to hunt it down!

Smudge’s top picks from a grubby fingered leaf through the handy handbag-sized brochure were the Performance Bus and the Inflatable Whale. Sounds good so far, doesn’t it?!

We caught the free Tiger Bus at the Museum and were joined by strolling minstrel for the day, Marita Mangano, who serenaded us with toe tapping gusto for the round trip. Marita’s a Tasmanian songwriter and musician and all the songs came from her new CD Binalong Blue – they were a perfect pick for a sunny drive through the elegant avenues of Launceston.

At lunchtime we headed to Prince’s Square and picnicked in the shadow of the great inflatable blue whale which looked fantastic marooned on a pathway under the bare branches of the park’s trees. Junction Festival elves handed out helpful fact sheets on Blue Whales for the kids.

We’re towards the end of a long term here in Tasmania – a ridiculous twelve weeks – and Curly’s pooped. I like giving her the odd day off to mix things up a bit and keep her outlook fresh. Factsheets on whales are all grist to the mill; she got to read up on something, interact with lots of people, have an exciting and different day out with me and Smudge, and see a lady singing on the bus. Go Lonnie!

Even the dog had a good time. We try to take Midget with us most places. A trip to the city isn’t ideal, but she had two runs in the grounds of the museum and did lots of sniffing and exploring in Prince’s Square. For a dog that spent the first half of her life on a sheep station, we figure this switches on her mind to new and exciting smells and places.

Last stop was the fantastic Nanna’s Coffee and Vintage tucked away in Coulter Square behind Petrarch’s bookshop. We were looking for the Chocolate Crocheting event, expecting to find ladies in interesting handmade clothing weaving away with their needles. It’s not actually a live event, as it turns out, but there were some interesting crocheted truffles in the window.

We practiced our manners over the lovely tablecloths, trying not to suck sugar directly from the 50s sugar decanters, and adding a layer of babycino froth to the moustaches we had left over from lunch.

Nanna’s is a hidden treasure, the sort of place I’ll revisit time and again now I know it’s there. Next time I’ll go without Smudge and Curly and have a proper poke around the vintage handbags.

The Junction Arts Festival is on in and around central Launceston for the rest of this week, 24-28 August 2011.