The Higgins' guest post is up on Michele Del Carlos blog about PopUp museums:

http://popupmuseum.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/guest-post-higgins-art-gallery-museum.html

Half Term with The Higgins

Half Term with The Higgins - Four Days of Fun

Sunday 2nd June - Big Victorian Jubilee Picnic

Wednesday 6th June - The Great Siege of Bedford Castle - Wootton Village Hall
Thursday 7th June - The Great Siege of Bedford Castle - Great Denham kickabout area
Friday 8th June - The Great Siege of Bedford Castle - Wixams Village Hall

Sunday 2nd June - Big Victorian Jubilee Picnic - The Queen's Diamond Jubilee - with a twist! 

We are celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee on the lawn beside The Higgins, on Sunday 3rd June between 11am and 4pm, in Victorian style! There will be flag and bunting-making and traditional toys and games to play, so bring a picnic and doff a jaunty hat or bonnet, for a pleasant and rewarding celebration.

Wednesday 6th June - The Great Siege of Bedford Castle - Wootton Village Hall 

Friday 8th June - The Great Siege of Bedford Castle - WixamsVillage Hall 

Thursday 7th June - The Great Siege of Bedford Castle - Great Denham kickabout area

Re-enact the Great Siege of Bedford Castle using props and costumes - a story of greed, kidnap and medieval mayhem! Help us tell the tale of the wicked baron, the rats in the dungeon and the terror of the king's revenge!

Sessions 10am - 12pm       Cost £1      For ages 9 - 16   

Booking essential

Contact Laura Pottinger  laura.pottinger@bedford.gov.uk 01234 718627

#thethingaboutme Pop-up Museum

We want to say A BIG THANK YOU to all the participants, volunteers and staff who made our first pop-up museum such a fun day. We managed to dodge the rain drops and some amazing objects were brought in. The event was quite experimental as it involved a great deal of input from the participants. You had to think what you might bring, what you would say about it and having done all that, you had to actually bring it along on the day. We were amazed and pleased by the number of people who brought things along, and told their stories. 

Some mini-themes appeared in the objects that were brought along.

1. Childhood bears (and foxes)

Foxy, collected by Gemma c. 1970's

Brumas, collected by Norma 1950

Harry, collected by Geoff 1956

2. Things that belonged to Grandparents, Great-Grandparents and other relatives.

A radio and tape player, collected by Keith.  Previously owned by Keith's Grandad. Listen to an Audioboo of the tapeplayer in action here.

Chocolate Tin c. 1914. Collected by Paul, previously owned by his Great Uncle. The tin contained details of a convoy he followed across Europe, working as a journalist during The Great War.

Brownie camera, collected by Tracey previously owned by her Grandad.

An album of cigarette cards, c.1920's, collected by Cicily, previously owned by  Uncle Albert Turner

3. Handmade things 

Black Cat made by Amy's mum c.1986

Collection of soldiers, hand painted by Susannah

Higgy the papier mache monster made by Katie

K9 handbag made by Victoria

This is just a snapshot of the amazing array of things brought in, which also included wedding dresses, photo albums, scrap books, hair dye, a bicycle, things brought back from travels, things made by prisoners of war, lollipop makers and much more. Thank you all again for making it such a great day. We've gathered together a few of the tweets and twitpics from the day.

If you came along on the day - please email, tweet or facebook us to let us know what you thought. What can we do better?