'The Spectacular Dancing Tent'

You know the feeling...

...when you were listening to a fairy story when you were little and it felt so real
...when you are reading a book and you don't want it to end
...or when you are watching a film and you feel that someone is sharing 'the' secret with you alone.......... and you tingle all over at the excitement and anticipation of whats to come.....there's magic in the air ..

Last night we visited a very magical place........ they called it

'The Spectacular Dancing Tent'

I have never seen anything like, it a 'Spiegeltent' arrived in Lower Castle Park, Colchester, as if by magic.
Spiegeltent means 'mirror tent', it is a beautiful wooden structure with the most amazing magical interior with mirrored booths surrounding a wooden dance floor.

All around the outside are individual painted wooden panels that make up the sides of the tent its huge and so very beautiful.

The entrance is like something from the turn of the last Century, like a fairground ride with its carvings painted in rich colours with golden high lights.

Then, as you peep through the entrance

music
sky lights of red and green glow in the evening light
the colours are rich and warm
the dancers are on the floor
moving to the haunting sounds of a Tango
around the edges their reflections dance across the mirrored booths
it smells of perfume, grass and canvas.

I loved it, I was let in on a secret that will stay with me for a very long time.
A little magic here in the East of England