Vamos – Right Up My Street!

September 8, 2015 by Rachel Kershaw in Days Out 3

When my family came to visit me in Newcastle for a few days recently I had a long list of places to take them for fun days out but we didn’t have to venture far. On Saturday the 29th August, just as we were pondering whether to ignore the threats of rain and head for Jesmond Dene, we discovered an event taking place right at the top of my street that had all the ingredients for a great day of family fun…

The people behind the Vamos Festival (a vibrant and varied celebration of Spanish and Portuguese speaking cultures) were hosting the Fenham Fiesta at Holy Cross Church. There was live music, face painting, crafts, Mexican food, exotic animals, salsa dancing and even a piñata! Plus it was all FREE, I couldn’t believe my luck!

Emily chose to have her face painted as a pink butterfly

The kids had an absolutely great time and even though it did rain a little bit, we had the shelter of the music tent to keep us dry. The music was amazing, my Dad and I especially loved the Mariachi band who had us singing and dancing all afternoon! My mum got her dancing shoes on for a salsa class, Emily was very impressed with her butterfly face painting and Jack wore himself out playing football with the big boys, when they weren’t enjoying the climbing wall that is! There really was something for everyone!

Jack kept his headband on all day bless him!

Vamos Festival has more events planned in the future, including the launch of a new club night in Newcastle, ¡VAMOS! Social with SELECTORCHICO™ on Saturday 12th September. The events don’t seem to be widely advertised though (I had no prior knowledge that the Fenham Fiesta was happening and that was on the street I live on!) so I would recommend you follow Vamos Festival on Facebook to keep up to date!

By Rachel Kershaw