UK vegetable sculpture contest serves food for thought
Vegetable likenesses of a papal Cornclave, US President Donald Trump and singer Dolly Parton are being displayed at an urban take on a country fair held annually in London.
The two-day Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park features sheep shearing, livestock competitions, food, music and a vegetable sculpture contest that has attracted national renown for its quirky creativity.
Several sculptures this year referenced the recent papal election or movie on the same subject, including one featuring cardinals made of maize, titled Cornclave.
Other entries included Irish rap trio Kneecap in potato form, "Cauli Parton" in a movie-inspired tableau titled 9 to Chive, a vegetable Mo Salad likeness of Liverpool soccer star Mohamed Salah and animated icons Wallace and Gromit made from butternut squash.
Trump also got the butternut squash treatment, while some entries referred to local politics.
In Lambeth, as in other parts of London, local authorities have turned to holding large concerts and festivals in parks as a way to raise money, to the chagrin of some neighbours.
Wolf Hall actor Mark Rylance, one of a group of local residents opposed to big events in Brockwell Park, is represented as "Mark Rylunch", with an apple-carved head and satirical signs branding him a NIMBY (not in my backyard) campaigner.
"Every year, this is what we get so excited about, is the vegetable sculptures," Country Fair regular Maddy Luxon said.
"It's just so unique and just so witty and we love the political ones."
"And the puns," said Marek Szandrowski, who was with her.
"The vegetable puns, definitely."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
19 hours ago
- ABC News
Thumb war
DONALD TRUMP: He's the only reason we can now send American astronauts into space … MARK STONE: We have all wondered when these two would fall out. But could anyone have predicted that when it happened, it would spiral so fast. - Sky News UK, June 6 2025 Hullo, welcome to Media Watch I'm Linton Besser, and yes, millions around the world watched on slack-jawed as the world's most famous pal-athon came to its ugly end last week. ALISON PIOTROWSKI: The bromance, it's well and truly over … - Today, Nine Network, 6 June 2025 CONAN NOLAN: It appears the bromance is over … - NBCLA , 4 June 2025 JOSH HAMMER: … Trump Musk bromance … - The Rita Panahi Show, Sky News Australia, 5 June 2025 PRESENTER: … bromance … - India Today, 6 June 2025 KRISTEN WELKER: This bromance … - Today, NBC, 4 June 2025 CHRIS KENNY: The end of the bromance… - The Kenny Report, 4 June 2025 The psychodrama playing out in real-time amid a fusillade on social media: JOE ROGAN: Jesus Christ… KASH PATEL: I'm just stayin' out of the Trump Elon thing … JOE ROGAN: What the fuck are they doing? - The Joe Rogan Experience, 5 June 2025 And providing a rich source of protein for headline writers everywhere: I HATE MY X! Big, beautiful breakup … - New York Post, 6 June 2025 The spectacle of two clownish billionaires, one a president, the other a providore of rocket ships setting fire to bureaucracy resetting the world order and pretending their friendship was anything other than transactional? I mean who could have predicted it was going to end like this? Um, everyone. KARA SWISHER: … there can be only one and that's gonna be Donald Trump. - CNN, The Chris Wallace Show, 9 November 2025 ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI: … Elon Musk is Donald Trump's peach right now and the peach is ripening. But you know what happens with fruit like this - it gets stale and mouldy very quickly. - The Rest is Politics US, 1 March 2025 Elon did indeed quickly moulder, busy as he was riding roughshod over Republican grandees and riding high … ELON MUSK: This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy … - Associated Press, 21 February 2025 On his own supply: … he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder … - The New York Times, 30 May 2025 Musk denied this report and when the White House announced the departure of the Department of Government Efficiency architect, Trump handed his chum the booby prize, a golden key. But Elon Musk previously charged with putting a scythe through government spending began firing shells at Donald Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill which will increase America's debt ceiling by up to 5 trillion US-dollars and at his signature tariffs policy. On Thursday U.S.-time Trump finally erupted: Elon was 'wearing thin' … I took away his EV Mandate … and he just went CRAZY! … - Truth Social, @realDonaldTrump, 5 June 2025 The easiest way to save money in our Budget … is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts … - Truth Social, @realDonaldTrump, 5 June 2025 Which amounts to $5.5 billion a year. But the bloke has 100 times that under his mattress which might be why Elon Musk was very relaxed about hitting back chastising Donald for his lack of manners: Without me, Trump would have lost the election … - X, @elonmusk, 5 June 2025 Such ingratitude - X, @elonmusk, 5 June 2025 And tossing in this little grenade for good measure: … realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT! - X, @elonmusk, 5 June 2025 Have a nice day? Musk later rethought this sweet but uncorroborated claim and deleted the tweet. Perhaps most stark about this wee spat was the speed at which we knew what was going on. While the skirmishes that occur inside other governments might only be brought to light by diligent correspondents these blows were being traded on public platforms the combatants both happen to own raising questions about whether these really are social networks or: … when it comes to their mega-rich, mega-wealthy owners … simply megaphones to holler at the world. - Business Insider, 6 June 2025 And at such volume that other consequential world events are for many completely drowned out like the issuing of sanctions by the White House against four judges of the International Criminal Court, a barrage of deadly Russian strikes on Ukraine and China's sale of propellant to Iran for ballistic missiles. Elon Musk and Donald Trump are not just financially wealthy or politically powerful in the internet age they are also influence-rich beyond the wildest dreams of former tycoons and presidents with a direct line to hundreds of millions of people consuming news in snack-size portions. So simply by firing from the hip they can drive the public conversation in any direction they choose sharpening ever more the crisis of relevance engulfing much of the press.
Perth Now
a day ago
- Perth Now
Pop star Ed Sheeran: I identify culturally as Irish
Ed Sheeran identifies culturally as Irish - even though he was born and raised in England. The 34-year-old pop star's dad hails from Ireland and Ed has been heavily influenced by his Irish heritage. During an appearance on The Louis Theroux Podcast, Ed explained: "I class my culture as Irish. I think that's what I grew up with. "My dad's family is ... he's got seven brothers and sisters. We'd spend all of our holidays in Ireland. "My first musical experiences were in Ireland, I grew up with trad music in the house. So I identify culturally as Irish, but I was obviously born and raised in Britain." Ed feels very proud of his Irish heritage. The chart-topping star said: "I don't overthink it but I do feel like my culture is something that I'm really proud of and grew up with and want to express. "And I feel like just because I was born in Britain doesn't necessarily mean that I have to just be (British), there's loads of people I know that are half this or quarter this. "I don't think there's any rules to it. It should be how you feel and how you were raised and what you lean into." Ed - who was raised in Suffolk, in east England - actually described Ireland as his "second home". Asked if he gets "a lot of love" in Ireland, the Perfect hitmaker replied: "I'd say it's basically my second home, musically. I'd say Ireland is the place that I am most successful musically." Meanwhile, Ed previously admitted that fatherhood has given him a "purpose" in life. The singer - who has daughters Lyra, four, and Jupiter, two, with his wife Cherry Seaborn - confessed that parenthood has transformed his life. He said on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show': "I just found that I really didn't have purpose outside of [music] because when I was giving myself fixed time of no work, I wasn't doing anything I enjoyed because I love doing music. And [being a dad] has actually given me purpose and something in life that's actually more important than my job."
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Talking Heads star David Byrne to tour Australia after new album drops
David Byrne will tour Australia in January in support of a new album of music, Who is the Sky?, set for release in September. It will be the first time the former frontman of Talking Heads has played in this country since bringing his acclaimed American Utopia tour here in 2018. As with that tour, the new show will feature a free-roaming band of musicians, singers and dancers, unencumbered by leads and amplifiers and able to roam the stage at will (albeit in highly choreographed fashion). Many of the line-up for this tour also performed in American Utopia, a show that later moved to Broadway and was filmed by Spike Lee for a documentary released in 2020. In recent weeks, 73-year-old Byrne has been teasing some upcoming news on his social media accounts. 'Hi, I'm working on something new and will have more news to share soon,' he said in a video posted on May 30, before offering a glimpse of new audio and typically idiosyncratic dance moves 'in the meantime'. The news of a tour and a new album comes at a busy moment for the prolifically but sporadically creative Byrne. June 5 marked the 50th anniversary of the first gig by Talking Heads at legendary New York City venue CBGB, and to celebrate the occasion a video clip for the band's 1977 single Psycho Killer was released. Directed by indie filmmaker Mike Mills and starring Oscar-winning Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, the clip – the first officially made for the song – appears to depict a woman gradually going through a depressive episode as the repetitive nature of her ordinary life begins to grind her down. Despite the re-release in 2023 of a remastered version of the band's Jonathan Demme-directed concert film Stop Making Sense (to mark its 40th anniversary), rumours of a reunion and tour for the band remain just that, in part because of lingering tension between him and bassist Tina Weymouth.
