Scared, almost late, but I did it! HedgeFest!

HedgeFest had its first (and hopefully not last) event on Saturday.

More photos and a chance to comment (there is something I need help with!) please pop over to this version of the article.

I read about it on the internet somewhere - hardly surprising that a thing about hedgehogs was dropped into my feeds! Immediately I was interested. Someone - Keenan, who I met for the first time at the event - had the bright idea of raising money and awareness for hedgehogs by bringing together local musicians in an amazing community owned pub in Peckham, The Ivy House!

I dropped him a note offering my services, and this quickly escalated into me doing a 45 minute hedgehog standup set … which is not entirely out of my comfort zone, but pretty much right at the edge of it!

Raising money for hedgehogs - could be a bit nebulous, but I was thrilled to see that the cash raised would go to the Hedgehog Street campaign, run by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species. But would anyone come?

The event started with the first band at 2pm, I was due on at 3pm - and set off in good time to help with the set up. The only problem was my idiot manager/PA … aka ‘me’ - who made a bad call. The night before I had checked how long various travel options would take - and surprisingly, going by car was going to be much quicker and much cheaper - I was taking my friend Kori along for moral support and bag carrying duties!

I had not even been drinking - I was just tired and had not thought it through. Of course it was going to be quicker to drive with the empty roads of the night … compared to what I got, which was everyone in England wanting to drive to London via Oxford in the morning!

Fortunately Kori was very good company and polite enough to not complain about my very varied musical mix … and we got there … just in time for me to plug my computer in and jump up on stage. Much less time getting scared … still scared … just less chance to let it settle in!

Was it standup? I talked for 45 minutes and there was lots of laughter - but I did not tell any ‘jokes’ … I suppose it was a bit like Natalie Haynes - who has a Radio 4 programme where she ‘Stands up for the Classics’ … delivering a funny lecture about characters from Ancient Greece and Rome (it works, trust me, go and check it out!)

Whatever it was, I got the reaction I was hoping for - and I got some surprising compliments through Instagram!! Oh - just in case you don’t already, have a follow - different stuff appears on my Instagram feed to here.

I have just checked - the online fundraiser - for people who wanted to support HedgeFest but were unable to go - has already topped over £1000 … if you want to top it up even further … here is the link.

A real delight was how many people came who I knew - the brilliant campaigner and author Vicki Hird was there - her book, Rebugging the Planet is a must read.

Then the young artist with a love of hedgehogs (and beavers, and water voles … good to have an audience for my Graffeg books!) Mabel Wynne came and said hi - she is so full of energy and it was great to hear her ideas, see her work, and be able to point her at the amazing vet/wildlife rescuer, Ana Lapaz-Mendez. I had met Ana at a hedgehog conference, and have since been to Pumpkin’s Wildlife Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre which she set up in Hertfordshire. The two of them have been busy plotting!

Ana was also chatting with Vicki and Kori - I love it when fascinating people get a chance to meet each other! Me, I enjoyed my Guinness Zero and the post performance calm.

Sunday was, unsurprisingly, not very productive. And Monday, well, boring admin in the morning but then I went back into London - this time to be in the audience - at the Royal Albert Hall, for the BBC Proms - the truly delightful Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, in an evening of Schumann. Really worth listening on BBC Sounds.