Sunday isn't just the day of rest. It's the day of rest and play. The day when you only need two thirds of a Mars bar, and save the other bit for Monday morning. But the problem these days is, it's hard to find play unless it's on the Playstation, internet or in a pub. So we were excited to hear about the Hide and Seek festival at the Southbank Centre which, as the organisers put it, "is about getting people away from their computers and out into public spaces." There were to be "playful experiences and social games", as "people are a bit bored of bar culture." It's like they heard our silent pleas and could see right into our souls. We just had to get down there.
Yet as we got to the South Bank, like most times in life when you're trying to achieve your goals and follow the right path, we were distracted. Seductive music drifted up from the sandy riverbank, just like the call of sirens. But as we made our way down the steps from the Thames Path, we realised there were no sirens, just beeping noises, stomping beats and the occasional whoosh and zap. An up-for-it afterparty was on the go, complete with DJ-without-a-permanent-gig and casualties from the night before. There were the reflex dancers twitching about, whose legs had given up on running dance moves by their brain first for approval. Then the crusties, who believe that Tennent's Super will save them from whatever they have taken in life, dancing and falling about merrily. And the late-comers, who only joined the original party at 5am so they were reaching their peak, excitedly jumping up and down and pulling off some of their best moves.
It was all happening right there on the sandy banks of the river Thames, in full view of the people enjoying a Sunday stroll along the Thames Path after the annual trip to the Tate Modern. Some of them got fed up with just watching, and came down to enjoy the party. So families with kids and ice creams, smooching couples and tourists were added to the eclectic bunch, all gagging to let loose in the sand. The restless gang of teenage boys, possibly bored with skateboarding, began to wow the audience from above with somersaults off the top of the path and down onto the sand, that became more and more insane as the crowd got bigger along with their egos.
By the time the tide came in and was reducing the size of the dancefloor by half a metre every few minutes, we realised we'd missed the Hide and Seek festival. Yet, like with most things in life, what you thought was your goal and the right path to take, turns out not to be, and it's what happened in between that was the fun part anyway. And messing about pointlessly in sand was probably a lot more enjoyable than some contrived 'social games' in the Southbank Centre. Isn't it true that when someone says, "Cheer up love, it might never 'appen!" you suddenly feel really moody? Well, the same goes for fun I reckon.
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