Barrows and Baskets

The Barrows, Baskets and Boots Festival is now an established part of the St Giles Church year. The 2008 festival is our seventh.

Every year the church comes alive with a springtime display of decorated barrows and baskets of all shapes, sizes and designs. And, since 2007, we've included boots as a tribute to Desborough's rich shoe and boot making heritage.

This year:

Displays in the church
refreshments in the Community Centre
miniature garden competition for the under 16's
mini garden centre in the Community Centre
a variety of stalls in the Community Centre

Local people -from the church, local organisations and businesses - contribute their various containers, each decorated with an individual design. There are serious subjects and humorous ones. There are simple small designs and large-scale intricate ones. There are flowers, branches, models, cards and all manner of 'props.' Each year the challenge to present something new is taken up by the entrants. Each year there are more surprises and more innovations.

On May Day, back in the 1940's and 50's children used to go round Desborough with a covered basket. In the basket were flowers and a doll. A donation of a few pence gained you a look at the display.

That old tradition was revived in 2001, but was transformed into a festival. St Giles Church has an annual Flower Festival in September and recent years have seen the introduction of the Christmas Tree Festival in November. This new May festival presented another blaze of light and colour.

Any donations go to church funds. Refreshments and various stalls are open in the Community Centre all weekend. The event was conceived by Stella Freeman who remembers her own involvement in the tradition as a child.

• Barrows and Baskets 2007 • Stella's reminiscences • Barrows and Baskets 2005 • Barrows and Baskets 2004 • Barrows and Baskets 2003 • Barrows and Baskets 2006 •