Thousands attend 11th birthday
party of offbeat music venue
A DIVERSE mix of music marked
the 11th birthday of one of the north's more unusual arts venues
over the weekend.
The Shed, at Brawby, on the edge of the North
York Moors, makes up for what it lacks in size with a big reputation,
attracting rave reviews across the national media. Creator Simon Thackray was the man behind
the idea of mixing music with knitting, which caused a national
stir last year, and it him who dreamed up the first Yorkshire
Pudding Boat Race, screened on Sky television. For the race,
giant Yorkshire puddings were made and coated in polyurethane
so they floated.

But on Saturday and Sunday, Malton Market Place was packed for celebrations
to mark 11 years since The Shed's first event - a performance
by Labi Siffre to 70 people who packed Brawby Village Hall in
1992. Mr Thackray's shed door was used on the promotional material
at the time, and has since become a trademark for the venue,
which has attracted hundreds [he means thousands] of people.
Performers over the weekend included
the Snake Davis Band and the Annie
Whitehead Band, as well as a number of up-and-coming groups from
the area.
Two thousand people packed the
market place on Saturday, with three thousand yesterday.
Mr Thackray said: "It was
magical. It has been like St Tropez in our area one day and Marbella
the next. "The audience were fantastic, a cross-section
from every generation. Usually you just do not see this sort
of the thing in the UK."
© Northern Echo 9 June 2003
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