Sarehole Pumpkin Flotilla!

Birmingham Museums Trust 2023

The Brief

We had enjoyed visiting Aston Hall and Blakesley Hall – also buildings cared for by the Birmingham Museums Trust – with some of our Rusticus Adventures but so far hadn’t had the chance to visit the atmospheric Sarehole Mill when we got the call in 2023. Could we help with a quality uplift for the well-loved Pumpkin Flotilla event held in October..?

What We Did

Understanding the site was crucial to the success of the event and we carried out a site visit which includes the beautifully renovated old mill buildings, the mill pond and a cobbled yard. In addition we were keen to understand what audiences expect from this established event. We identified that a hosting role would be ideal – essentially facilitating the audiences’ journey around the site from start point to culminate in their enjoyment of the pumpkin flotilla on the mill pond. Utilising a framing device of the Sarehole Witchfinders – which was a reference to the site’s rich rural industrial heritage – we created a short performance to welcome audiences to the event and ready them for an adventure before taking them in groups to experience the grinning jack o lanterns floating on the pond.

The Result

We delivered three successful nights at the Sarehole Pumpkin Flotilla – with our presence both adding to the quality of the experience but serving to facilitate the smooth running of audience flow over the course of each evening.