There’s the short show with the witches I’ve already described, which is aimed at adults and children (although I think it might terrify me if I was a kid!).Īt one point I come across a stage where George’s marvellous medicine is being made as part of a show, complete with gruesome ingredients that leave the crowd squirming in laughter. They don’t have the crush of the crowds and there’s much more spontaneity – they really do feel unexpected. The action around Mr Fox is another main element and his story plays out on the wall of Cardiff Castle and culminates with him tightrope-walking across to an adjacent building.īut, for me, it’s the little things in the pedestrian malls and arcades that are the most enjoyable. The arrival of the peach is one of the main set pieces and a choir of children sing to try to save it from the city authorities who want to destroy it. Meanwhile, Fantastic Mr Fox is on the loose and the farmers are running around looking for him.
The weekend begins with the arrival of a giant peach that rolls through the streets and ends up at Cardiff Castle. Everything else seems impromptu to the crowds.
There’s no official programme and only a few tips on how to find the main attractions. Thousands of people have poured into the centre to discover what events are taking place. The Cardiff of today is perfectly suited to host a festival like the City of the Unexpected. How all those things have changed in 25 years! When he died in 1990, it was quite impoverished, struggling with unemployment and unsure of its identity within Britain. But he also saw its decline as the industrial needs of the world changed. He was born at the height of the coal mining boom, when Cardiff was one of the busiest and wealthiest cities in Europe. That’s probably the thing that would be most unexpected for Roald Dahl if he could see it today. It’s a different city these days, though. I assume they’ve been very proud, but just too modest to brag that one of the world’s greatest children’s authors came from here.
Not that the people of Cardiff are ashamed – quite the opposite, in fact. I feel like the author’s birthplace has never been given much emphasis until recently, with the centenary of his birth approaching. It was a hundred years ago this week that Roald Dahl was born in Cardiff. The Welsh capital has been transformed into the ‘City of the Unexpected’ to celebrate Roald Dahl and the gifts he has left us with his books. It’s all rather unexpected – from the initial chance encounter on the street, to the performance.īut that’s the point of this weekend in Cardiff. They shout, they sing, they make a child disappear and – probably most shocking of all – they rip off their wigs to reveal they are all actually bald men.īecause, of course, these ‘witches’ are merely performers, taking on the roles of Roald Dahl characters and, let’s be honest, would any woman be committed enough to shave her head for this performance? Here they begin their presentation, declaring their intention to turn all children into mice. The witches lead me – and the dozens of others who have joined the procession – to an amphitheatre formed by the stairs of a shopping centre. These are the witches of Roald Dahl, with their clawed hands hidden by gloves, bald heads hidden by wigs, toeless feet hidden by shoes.Īnd, as you possibly remember, they hate children! Not witches in the traditional sense – there are no black cloaks, broomsticks or pointy hats.
I decide to follow because I’ve recognised them instantly. They’re also unpleasant in demeanour – sneering like syrup at adults, encouraging them to follow with their children. They’re rather grotesque in appearance – large noses, poor make up, broad shoulders, odd hair. The group of women, cackling, marches past me in the street in the centre of Cardiff.