I always love watching this sort of thing when I'm abroad in Europe. We have a local town band which is multi-generational and I believe the local drama groups attract a wide range of people of different ages. Probably because of the weather, we don't tend to see this sort of thing quite so frequently outdoors. It does seem to be a shame that the generations don't get together quite as much as in other places.
@FreddieUK There is little incentive to play musical instruments in English Secondary school. They claim to be too expensive. The Spanish raise the funds.
I’ve heard bands play at Religious festivals, including Easter at Serville, not nothing of this standard. I once witnessed a bullfight, the musical was appalling, so was the event.
@peterlee Yes, there's lots of music in churches in the UK of a wide variety. I too lament the demise of music making (as opposed to academic study of it) in schools, but the utilitarians have held sway for 20 years or so. I sense signs of positive movement in that regard.
@peterlee It does seem to be, yes, because people became too used to finding their own interests and entertainments. I am hopeful the community spirit will return, slowly perhaps, but still return.
@peterlee Same in Norway, pretty much every school or village has a brass band. They raise money by running a loppemarked (flea market) once or twice a year.
@peterlee I don't think you can blame COVID for it. COVID might have made it worse but community spirit has been in decline in England for quite a while. An ex-colleague of mine moved from Norway to the south of England many years ago and after a while he tried to organize people in the street of terraced houses he lived in to tidy up the street, pick up litter, etc. He knocked on every door in the street and was turned down at every one. He still goes out and picks up litter by himself. I usually have a plastic carrier bag in my handbag so that when I go for a walk I can pick up discarded drinks cans and so on.
@ninalanyon I live on the coast and there are a few voluntary beach-cleaning groups active in the area.
Not so much for litter-picking in the streets and parks, though a few individuals take it on themselves to do that. I pick up the items of litter just outside my home and put them in my rubbish-bin; but must admit not being an unpaid street-cleaner.
Perhaps we are all worn down by too many wilfully antisocial cowards: fly-tippers, litter-throwers, pavement cyclists, vandals including paint-sprayers, and the like.
I do not claim to understand why they are so. They are not born antisocial, but choose to be. They are not born vandals, litter-throwers, graffiti-sprayers, dangerous and illegal cyclists - they choose to be. They are not born to be cowards - they choose to be.
They are not born vandals, litter-throwers, graffiti-sprayers, dangerous and illegal cyclists - they choose to be.
I suspect that they grow up surrounded by like minded people. Our early conditioning is a very strong influence on our later behaviour. It's not only money and hair colour that are heritable and not only genes that transmit from generation to generation.
@ninalanyon There has been a different atmosphere in the UK since COVID.
What I saw yesterday was pretty wonderful. There was a real community and family atmosphere. What is there in the UK? Supermarkets full at weekends. What sort of culture is that?
