It’s Fun Palaces weekend!!! I’m writing this on a train to Rotherham, where I’ll be visiting Riverside Library Fun Palace. Then onto Blackburn, Preston and Lancaster to visit Fun Palaces and their Makers. This weekend, thousands of people across the UK will be standing up to make a statement and say ‘Culture belongs to us’. Fun Palaces are about communities making culture on their terms, not anyone else’s. They are about claiming space for radical fun and taking time to get to know our neighbours a little better.
Earlier this week, Fun Palaces founder, Stella Duffy, sent me a link to the ‘five pillars of mental health’* noting how much Fun Palaces inherently bring about all of these things, which I expect will resonate strongly with Fun Palaces Makers, who know and have felt this in action.
Connect
Get Active
Take Notice
Learn
Give
(*Also known as the 5 ways to wellbeing on the Mind website.)
By planning a Fun Palace (a small – or not so small – event that brings community together) we create chances to connect; to have a conversation while doing something, which is perhaps a different conversation to one we might usually have.
“If your hands are busy and maybe your eyes need to be focused on something, you can talk about things that aren’t so easy when you’re directly looking at someone.” – Fun Palaces Maker
Fun Palaces are an opportunity to meet new people, or get to know our neighbours a bit better.
“[I have] built relationships in the community and [it] has inspired more working together for common goals” – Fun Palaces Maker
Not all Fun Palaces have to involve active activities, but over the years there have been lots, including: Sword dancing, canal arts walks, surf skills, swimming (with mermaids), kayaking, skating, traditional dancing, gardening, sand dancing, drumming, egg and spoon races and table tennis – to name but a few.
Fun Palaces are a chance to tune into and notice things about ourselves, our neighbours and our area – perhaps things we don’t always pay attention to. They are a moment for us to notice and celebrate our own strengths talents and interests.
“It has meant engaging creatively with our families, our friends, with the world around us. It has also meant getting in touch with our own selves, learning, playing, staying occupied and happy.” – Fun Palaces Maker
And as Joan Littlewood said in her original vision for the Fun Palace:
“Sit out over space with a drink and tune in to what’s happening elsewhere in the city.”
Fun Palaces are all about coming together, sharing skills and learning something new – whether that’s bricklaying, sewing a button, making a junk puppet or trying out some kitchen science. Joan Littlewood described Fun Palaces as a ‘university of the streets’ (and ‘a laboratory of fun’.)
Whether it’s learning a new skill through sharing an activity, or putting on your first Fun Palace and picking up marketing, organising and / or event management skills – there’s always much to learn. 72% of Makers in 2024 said they learned new skills as a result of running a Fun Palace.
And finally, whether you make, or visit a Fun Palace, whether you share a skill, make someone a cup of tea, or give your time to your local community by attending a Fun Palace – there is so much giving in the action of making Fun Palaces.
It’s Fun Palaces weekend right now, which means, if you want to you can put these into practise this weekend – it’s not too late to visit a Fun Palace, start your own tiny Fun Palace – or join in from home; Nucleus Arts have this fabulous virtual Fun Palace for you to join in with.
