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Writer's pictureChimwemwe Chirwa

Tullie Houses not so Secret Garden Party



We headed down to Carlisle for a very wholesome event put on by young creative producers who work with Tullie House for a not so secret garden party (SGP).


The event was packed with local traders, music and more in a tranquil garden attached to the museum where people could shop, get creative and chill to some live music.


Amongst the independent young traders was Ashyelf, run by Kira who draws artwork that interests them at the time and in their own words "however wacky and wonderful that may be".


Kira, who goes by Kiki or Ash online, had a variety of prints and hand painted canvases of pop culture figures such as Jake and Finn from adventure time, a wonderful Barbie X Oppenheimer crossover and characters from the movie Nope.


Ally garfield in his adorable tye dye sweater declaring that you are in fact loved.


You can find Ashyelf here on Instagram.


Another trader that caught our eye and has been featured in Hollr in the past was Warwick Bazaar.


Warwick Bazaar is usually an emporium of independent local traders, but was condensed down for SGP into a small stall selling a selection of jewellery, patches, accessories and more.


All of the cute necklaces on offer. Our personal favourite is the Carrie themed tarot card.


If you are into Tarot, movies, games and fun accessories then this stall had everything you could ask for.


If you were struggling to choose items you could even pick up one of their famed mystery bags that can include everything from stickers, plush toys and crystals to some, well weird stuff… whatever that could mean.


The mystery bags were only £4 each which is total bargain with some of the contents being priced well above that.


Not only was the event packed with local traders there was also a lot of local talent performing a variety of music.


First up to perform was Elizabeth McGarry who gave us a laid back set of covers to open up the SGP.


Elizabeth told us that it was her first time performing in a while but that didn’t show at all with Elizabeth's acoustic take on That’s All Right by American blues singer Arthur Crudup.


Elizabeth performing at the secret garden party.


Next up to perform was a three piece psychedelic, soul and funk band hailing from Carlisle, Jiggy Beast.


The best way we can describe Jiggy is a mix between Mac Demarco meets Yves Tumor. Luke the lead singer of Jiggy Beast had an impressive vocal range. Depending on what genre the song was he synchronised his voice to the sound of that song.


One of our personal favourites being Tiger Blood but the star of the show was Ardour which had a real 60s feel from their EP - 'a Wild Jiggy Beast Appears'.


You can listen to Jiggy Beast here


Jiggy beast jigging things up for the second performance.


The Groove Shaman, who we featured in a recent article for their groovy artwork, hooked our attention as the penultimate performer for the SGP.


They brought some eccentric and fresh techno/deep house beats for a complete vibe change up.


The music was more ambient than some of their heavier tracks that they feature on their Soundcloud but it was a beautiful blend between soft house, deep techno and tech house which provided a relaxed yet vibey beat to the SGP.


Getting into the groove with The Groove Shaman.


The Groove Shaman provided the perfect atmosphere for people taking part in the creative activities that were dotted around the SGP.


It allowed creatives to focus on their art. The tunes provided the perfect environment for you to kick back on the beanbags and chat with people whilst also admiring the sweet electro-synth sounds as they played.


Speaking of arty things, Pride in North Cumbria Arts and some independent artists from Cumbria hosted art workshops where you could get creative with Graffiti, scavenged items and string to make art.


Pride in North Cumbria at their stall. Photo credit: Tullie Producers Instagram.


All of this wouldn’t have been possible without the talented young creative producers for Tullie House and Lindsey, a facilitator of the event and community engagement producer for Tullie, told us about how they all made it possible:


“I work with a group of young producers under the age of 25 and we’ve noticed there isn’t a lot going on for young people and especially creative young people in Carlisle”.


Lindsey explained to us that they are a mixed group of young people who meet weekly and are at different stages in their creative careers and have been brought together through different social events.


Tullie works alongside them to create different programs for either their own creative ventures or events like this one that evolved out of one of them: “We just so happened to be having a meeting in the secret garden on a really good sunny day and I put it out there that this space is a nice place to hold and event.


We thought it'd be really good if like all of the activities were kind of chilled, mindfully designed to come and go so that people could choose to dip in and out of it and have people just really enjoy the space and make it more casual”.


Lindsey speaking to us about how the creative producers put the secret garden party on.


Lindsey told us that, alongside the creative young producers, they are excited for the next event after the success of the Secret Garden Party last week:


“I really want to see the garden being used because it’s such a special place, it’s loved and it’s been brilliant today I think it’s gone really well.”


We really hope there's a next one soon - it's sure to be as chilled and mindful as this one just gone.

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