John Cavanagh reporting live at the 2013 event. |
The first time I encountered the Drowning Marzanna Spring Festival, I was a little confused. Was I being invited to some event with, shall we say terminal intent? Well, it certainly grabbed my attention. The meaning of the festival was, of course, not in the least murderous and purely reflected an ancient European culture of banishing winter and welcoming spring. This was achieved with a celebration involving the dispatch of an effigy representing the goddess of winter and death: Marzanna. It all reminded me, in a pleasingly macabre way, of our own Wicker Man.
It just so
happened that we, in Glasgow, had our own Marzanna: far from being a harbinger
of winter (or death), she is one of the most lively and inspiring people and,
along with her friend Ania, another vibrant talent who's chosen this city as
her home, they'd been staging Drowning Marzanna here since 2010.
My first taste
of the pageant was a wonderful introduction to the festival, with music,
dancing, people of all ages and from many places taking part in a wonderful
setting by the Kelvin. In getting to know Ania, Marzanna and their friends
better through the following year, I was very happy to be invited to get
involved in the 2013 event, then the 2014 one as well, with each year's
Drowning finding more friends in a true spirit of getting together in
celebration, not only of spring itself, but in an enriching feeling of humanity
gathering in our city in such a joyous way.
People Make
Glasgow. You can hardly have escaped the slogan which became ubiquitous on
everything from badges to bike stands around the time of the 2014 Commonwealth
Games. An event like Drowning Marzanna proves the point. However, one of the
many new rules regarding the use of our public park space nearly wiped Drowning
Marzanna off the calendar for 2015. It involved the requirement for public
liability insurance to be in place. One suspects this would be prohibitively
expensive, however potential insurers showed scant interest in even offering a
quote to a small group hoping to run this event, in spite of their good record
in previous years. Had this happened around the inaugural drowning event, it
would never have got off the ground at all and it appears the new rules act as
a wet blanket to people wanting to make anything that is not buoyed up by
substantial funding.
The Marzanna
festival has no funding to support it. It is run, if not on a shoestring, then
on threads of brightly coloured ribbon, bought by the group who make the thing
happen. That is all. It's an event made from the enthusiasm of those who choose
to create open connections in our world and it serves as a beacon of Glasgow
Life. I use capital letters there, as Glasgow Life is the City Council umbrella
organisation which controls such things as making rules about the parks we pay
for. The application of their powers is, in some areas, rendering the “People
Make Glasgow” slogan to be a piece of empty rhetoric: while people are trying
to make things in Glasgow, Glasgow Life are placing formidable obstacles in
their way.
In recent weeks,
I have been approached by several people whom I barely know in public and
contacted by more who are familiar to me asking what's happening with Drowning
Marzanna this year. It's sad that what has been a growing, evolving and eagerly
awaited event each year has now been forced to get it all together very swiftly
in the days before it all happens. However, at least it is all happening, once
again by the Kelvin on Sunday 19th April. We hope for a healthy and
enthusiastic turnout for what should be a wonderful day in one of Glasgow's
many beautiful spots.
Come along! Be
as colourful as you like! Dance, sing or just watch if you're too shy! It'll be
a great day, I'm sure and everyone is welcome to Drowning Marzanna, just as
Drowning Marzanna welcomes spring!
No comments:
Post a Comment