After months of preparation, Frome’s third Kindness Festival is now live and open for
booking, head to our website for the full programme. Its overarching theme is ‘Kindness Builds Bridges’ and at a time of cost of living and planetary crises, the Festival aims to warm hearts, raise spirits, and reconnect us with our natural superpower of kindness. Please take a moment to see what events most call out to you, your family and friends, and help us spread the word about this special opportunity organised by The Good Heart 16-22 March to celebrate the importance of kindness in our lives.
(Frome Street Bandits)
This year’s Festival is bigger than ever, with captivating musical performances, inspiring exhibitions, unexpected pop-ups and family-friendly activities. Dive into thought-provoking discussions, discover off-the-beaten-track local projects, and improve your health through calming workshops and meditations. Find out more about Toddler Tantrums, How to Say No! and Blue Carbon. Each day has a different theme, and thanks to our generous funders, more than half of Festival activities and events are completely free of charge.
(Volunteers outside Kind Bank)
New for 2024 is Kind Bank, a vibrant Festival hub housed in the recently-vacated HSBC building in the middle of town. Drop by to experience a bank that deals with kindness rather than cash, book for festival events, and enjoy free activities and a hot drink. Open a thank account, invest time in a local charity, or contribute to a pop-up Museum of Kindness. Expect the unexpected in a place buzzing with creativity and fun from 10 am to 4 pm daily during the Festival week.
(Centre: Jo Berry. Clockwise from top left: Ken Loach, Mark Walsh, Mikkel B. Kristiansen, Nigel Whiskin)
Sit back and enjoy the many fascinating speakers in this year’s Kindness Festival, including British cinema legend Ken Loach, international peacebuilder Jo Berry, Restorative Justice pioneer Nigel Whiskin, embodiment teacher Mark Walsh, and Danish toddler tantrum expert Mikkel B. Kristiansen. Enjoy screenings, family friendly activities, and special events such as a week-long exhibition organised by Artists in Dialogue from the Ukraine and Frome, and an intergenerational Tea Dance for Frome’s youngest and oldest with the BathTub Orchestra.
(The BathTub Orchestra)
Explore heartwarming initiatives aimed at spreading kindness and joy in the community, ranging from Frome Seed Library’s ‘Seeds in the Workplace’, where local businesses compete to grow the tallest sunflower, to the ‘Stories of Kindness’ project inviting residents to share their tales of kindness and compassion with the Frome Writers Collective. The Kindness Trail will offer a self-guided journey through Frome’s streets uncovering hidden acts of kindness, the Micro Providers ‘Make a Difference’ initiative will support individuals to spend quality time with clients in need, and our ongoing partnership with Fair Frome will bring some extra love and warmth to their weekly food parcels. Our volunteer team will also lead assemblies in nine local schools, sharing the importance of kindness with over two thousand children.
See the full programme and book your tickets here, If you’d like to join the volunteer team, for example by being an event steward, helping to staff Kind Bank or distributing publicity materials, please contact Gemma at gemmathegoodheart@gmail.com. Big thanks to everyone who has already offered their time and skills to the Festival – as event leaders, partner organisations and venue hosts; painters and carpenters; writers, designers and makers; and in countless other ways.
