Northamptonshire musician cycles to UK gigs to highlight impact of gigging
Sarah Small has cycled her viola da gamba 4300 kilometres to gigs since early May.
A musician from Brixworth says she's concern for the future of our planet.
Sarah Small has been cycling to her gigs across the UK over the past few months to highlight the environmental impact of touring.
The 31 year old viola da gamba player set off on May 6th for her gigs in as far flung places from Scotland to Cornwall in a 4300 kilometre journey.
Sarah tells us why she decided to head off by bike to her gigs:
"Because by doing something slightly extreme, it makes changes that are not so extreme seem a lot more manageable.
"So for example me cycling to everything makes the idea of choosing to take the train instead of driving one person in a car seem a lot more accessible."
Sarah says her recent 31 gigs took her on a figure of eight ride around the country, with her viola da gamba, tent, and belongings all loaded onto the bike.
She says it was a very balanced 50 kilos.
Sarah says she's trying to highlight a different way of touring:
"A lot of the ensembles who I work with will have very busy schedules all across Europe and it means flying to a different country and back, sometimes multiple times within a week.
"And if you choose not to fly, you have to pay. You might be reimbursed the equivalent for the flight cost, but you'll have to pay the difference, and we all know that trains are just extortionately expensive, and flights are ridiculously cheap, and they do not reflect the true cost and the environmental impact.
"And it's not financially viable for me to constantly be paying the difference. It's also not viable to be cycling to everything. And so we really need to change how we tour and like the speed at which we tour."
Sarah says she aimed to influence her colleagues but also her audience, and enjoyed finding unusual places to play on route, often music which is inspired by nature.
"There is this great value in playing in the unassuming village hall on route to the venue in the major city with the prestigious title.
"And I've had the most incredible experiences in the places that I would have expected the least the least meaningful meaningful interactions."
Sarah next plans to tour France by bicycle.