It’s that spoooooky time of year when ghosties and goblins come out to play. I joined in with some Halloween fun at the weekend. Ullswater Steamers put on a Ghostly Galleon and myself , Wil, our friend Jo and God daughter Lydia enjoyed a cruise on the lake with a marvelous magic show and dressing up masks . Definitely aimed at children , but we adults had fun too. 🎃🦇
After our spooky boat trip we spent an hour or so at the Rheghed centre near Penrith, where Lydia found a Halloween treasure hunt and an outdoor adventure playground, before heading into town for the annual Winter Drovers Festival.
The Penrith Winter Droving started eight years ago and is a celebration of all things rural. There’s a Drovers Cup with team events such as Hay Bale Racing, Egg Throwing, Tug O War and Sausage eating. Throughout the day various musicians and street performers entertain the crowds and a huge Cumbrian Food Market fills the streets. 
As dusk descends a fantastic torch lit procesion takes place around the town. The animal lanterns look so effective , all lit up against the darkening sky. 
Later back at the caravan, out came the monopoly. It had been a long but enjoyable day. 🙂 
sunshine and celandines 
The festival in Penrith sounds really good. I love those lanterns, especially the wolf 🙂
The lanterns were definitely the highlight of the festival. X
That just looks so spooky!! Is there any meaning to the “red” costumes? And your monopoly board is Roald Dahl themed?? Cool 😊
Not sure who the red people were. They kept popping up everywhere. Maybe druid or pagans, I’m not sure. Yes its a pretty cool monopoly board.There are some great themed ones out there nowadays. 🙂
Looks like you have had a great day out in my corner of the world. Despite living just down the road we have never been to the Winter Droving, when the children were little they hated big noisy crowds of people, or anyone wearing a mask, but now that they are older maybe we should go and join in the fun!
It’s definitely worth going to, even to just watch the parade in the evening. I would go again. 🙂
What a wonderful day you had with so much seasonal fun. The animal lanters are magical:)
I’d seen the signs out for the Penrith festival and wondered what would be going on there, the parade looks very good. Shame we had to leave on the Friday, the day before, so missed it all.
There’s always next year. Off junction 40. 🙂
Ha, yes, it would mean another visit to the Lakes!!
The red may possibly represent blood, as the ‘droving’ was the driving of the cattle and sheep from the fields to slaughter when there was no longer enough grass in the fields to sustain them over the winter months. I was a bit worried about reading this post from its title, so was very happy to see that the animals were just lovely lanterns instead of the real things 🙂
Happily no animals were harmed in the festival or the making of this post. But check out Annabel’s comment about the red performers!
The lanterns are fabulous! I think the red costumed people are Extinction Rebellion protestors. I’ve seen pictures of them in London, check out
https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/07/red-brigade-silently-appear-extinction-rebellion-protests-10875730/
Wow, it looks like they are , looking at that link. I would not have known, thanks Anabel. X
Of course! I didn’t recognise them.
What a lovely day. I love the animal lanterns.
The parade was amazing. 🙂
What a super day and the parade doesn’t look too crowded.
Happy if you enjoyed the droving festival we also like it.
We did. It was your post last year that inspired me to go….and the fact that we bought a caravan 20 minutes away from Penrith of course. 😉
Looks a fun day x
The festival looks fantastic, I must remember to investigate that for next year.
It’s a grand day / eve out. 🙂