This year as ever I had the pleasure of attending the Middle-earth Weekend at Sarehole Mill. As local residents and Tolkien enthusiasts Vivienne and I are there every year and Vivienne, as the Chair of the organising committee, is the driving force behind the arrangements for this unique event and was there for the whole of the two days - and more.
This year’s weekend was another great success. As you can see, a very large dragon was rushing around! The Middle-earth Weekend is now known throughout the world via Tolkien related sites and was rated one of the country's top ten family events by The Independent newspaper. This is a great tribute to the organisers, to Hall green and to Birmingham. Official attendance figures are not yet available but should once again be well above 10,000.
This traditional family festival, provided free of charge and with old-fashioned entertainments as well of course as the Tolkien dimension takes a great deal of putting on and every year the volunteers work harder and get older and fewer.
Birmingham has a great deal to be proud of with the landscapes of Tolkien's Shire reflecting the Sarehole Area. Birmingham should make much more of this close connection. Perhaps when the next two Tolkien inspired films based on The Hobbit are released in December 2012 and December 2013 The Hobbit there will again be a further surge in public interest.
1 comment:
The Tolkien phenomenon brings a lot of tourists to our City and its surrounding areas. These types of events can only help to encourage that continued interest.
Keep up the good work.
Graham from Plumbers Birmingham
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