Slow Down London

Can you find your inner tortoise? As the Slow Down London festival kicked off this weekend I am intrigued to see if it it can really catch on; are Londoners even programmed to live ‘slowly’?

Whether it’s the rat race to work, frantically dodging between shops or running errands, the capital city is a 24-hour bustle.  Nobody seems able to spare a moment. But in this madness are we missing the point of it all? Our Italian and Spanish neighbours often criticize us for living to work not working to live and this 10-day festival intends to change our way of thinking.
 
The organisers of the festival have been inspired by our light-hearted Italian friends who have been advocating slow living since the late nineties.  Festival Director Tessa Watt  said : “People that live in big cities sometimes get trapped in fast forward, we’re living as if the whole of life was a deadline.”
 
This weekend’s events ranged from eager supporters enjoying a slow walk over Waterloo Bridge, handing out fines to speeding commuters, to letter-writing workshops and harp ensembles.
 
A perfectly timed event to encourage people to dig their heads out of a recession-laden sand and take a break.  The festival encourages people to find some time to leave their desks or slow down their days and, as Canadian Journalist Carl Honoré told listeners at a lecture on Saturday, to find our ‘inner tortoises’.
 
Others gathered at London Printworks for wallpaper printing sessions with Linda Florence.  The snail mail workshop in Charing Cross on Saturday was completely sold out as intrigued wordsmiths gathered to hear poet Miriam Nash wax lyrical about the forgotten art of writing letters.
 
Upcoming events include short talks on Slow Art by Skylark Gallery Artists, a slow food market in South Bank Centre Square and strolls through the National Gallery.  You can even enjoy a free coffee or tea with your slow breakfast in the Royal Festival Hall Canteen throughout the festival.
 
So perhaps it will not harm us to kick back, put our feet up and watch the world go by every now and again.
 
For a full events listing and more details go to:
www.slowdownlondon.co.uk, Until 4th May

Wallpaper Printing from Craftspace