Masks, Kicking Ass and Green Man!

2013 has been one of the busiest festival seasons we have experienced at Mad World. We are noticing more and more of our customers are spending long weekends at one of the increasing numbers of boutique festivals on the calendar.

Last week's in demand item was definitely the Venetian mask, as Wilderness festival had a Masquerade theme for one of the days. We sold many elaborate masks - feathers, glitter, long noses, you name it. We are looking forward to seeing photographs of masquerade messiness! Don't forget our monthly photo competition is open for entries. Send in a pic of you in costume and you could win a free costume hire - not to be sniffed at with Halloween just around the corner!

As we reach mid-August, our calendar of events to prepare for is full every weekend for the forseeable future! This weekend (16th-18th Aug) is Green Man festival in the Black Mountains (near Crickhowell in the Brecon Beacons, Wales) this intimate festival has a 10 year tradition of championing great music, good times and good causes. With ten entertainment areas in lush Welsh wilderness, 1500 performers, 24 hour entertainments, comedy, poetry, literature, art & science, spas, therapies, hot piping showers, luxury camping areas, local ale and cider sipping, all night bonfires, gorgeous selection of locally sourced food over 4 days of festival fun, the award winning Green Man really has got it all.

I recommend spending time in the "Einstein's Garden" area of the festival. Providing a vastly different experience to the usual beer/burgers/crowdsurfing festival offering, you can spend time engaging your brain and exploring the far flung reaches of your imagination with over 100 jaw-dropping performances, from live comedy, music and theatre to walks, talks and interactive installations – all set across three sustainably powered stages.  There is of course an opportunity for fancy dress as this year their theme is  ‘heroes’ - celebrating superheroes, cult heroes, unlikely heroes, heroes of the animal world, Greek gods, eco-warriors and – of course – scientific heroes like the inspirational Albert Einstein himself!

In cinema news, this summer is looking like a great time to see a film. Homegrown releases such as The Worlds End and Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa have already tickled our funnybones and this week the girls at Mad World are very excited about the release of Kick Ass 2. The follow up to 2010's Kick Ass, based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr, sees Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Grace-Moretz  reprise their roles as "Kick-Ass" and ""Hit Girl". A new addition to the cast this time around is Jim Carrey, who has astonishingly now refused to promote the film or take part in any interviews ahead of the premiere as he thinks the film is too violent! He said on twitter: "I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence. My apologies to others involved with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart". Despite Jim's u-turn, we expect Kick-Ass 2 to, ahem, kick ass at the box office this summer and predict quite a few Hit-Girls running around this Halloween!