INVITATION - The Roaming Flags of Bumble Hole, 13th August

On 13 August the Roaming Flags of Bumble Hole project concludes with a colourful musical parade. Come and fly a flag for nature!

The Roaming Flags of Bumble Hole concludes on Saturday 13th August with a colourful parade featuring music, readings, rites and of course, flags. The parade will celebrate the miraculous transformation of the site now known as Bumble Hole Local Nature Reserve, from a blackened hive of extractive industry into a teeming haven of natural abundance. Our observances will ensure the continued thriving of nature on this land for many years to come.

This is a participatory event and the more people who take part, the stronger the magic will be so please do come along and bring a friend (or several). There will be enough flags for everyone. The cotton flags have been coloured with natural dyes and were decorated by the participants of our previous event in July. Now that we've created the flags it's time to fly them.

The procession of the flags will take us on a tour of many of the reserve's finest features including winding canals, shady woodland, hilltop vistas, an industrial ruin and into the mouth of a pitch-black tunnel. Musical accompaniment will be provided by Beth Hopkins who will lead sing-a-long renditions of original and traditional folk songs drawn directly from the soil in which the flags will stand. 

Inspired by Tibetan Prayer Flags, there are five different colours of flag, each representing a different element: blue for the sky, white for the air, red for fire, green for water and yellow for earth. Our procession will focus on each of these elements in turn and at different points on the route the flags will be fixed into the ground and strung across the waterways in spectacular displays.

Meet at 12pm outside the Bumble Hole Nature Reserve Visitor Centre, Windmill End, Dudley DY2 9HS. No need to book. Suitable for all ages. The event will last no more than two hours and will finish up back where it started. Refreshments and toilet facilities are available at the visitor centre but you may also wish to bring a packed lunch. For other queries please contact Andy.

This project is supported by Creative Black Country as part of Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places National Portfolio programme, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC) and support from CoLab Dudley.