On Friday 20th October, the Rumble Museum held a Labyrinth Festival at Cheney School, celebrating labyrinths through the ages from ancient Knossos to modern day films and stories. Cheney students and external organisations ran a range of creative activities and stalls exploring mazes and labyrinths, including a room themed on Knossos, with 3D printed artefacts from the Ashmolean's Knossos exhibition, a Linear B logogram guessing activity, octopus jar decoration, a giant magnetic maze, and beautiful displays by East Oxford Primary School children, explore labyrinths on mine craft with the Story Museum, and take part in printing on the Rumble Museum's Victorian printing press.

 

There was monster-making, a floor labyrinth game, a giant labyrinth escape room, Cheney's own walkable labyrinth, and people in character from ancient Greek history and myth.

 

Alongside explorations of the ancient labyrinth, there was an emphasis on the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth - and visitors were able to meet the goblin king (aka Juggling John Haynes) on stilts juggling crystals, watch fire juggling shows, be quizzed by 'riddle doors', see beautiful owls from Apollo Falconry, and take part in a masked ball and create elaborate masks. They were also able to meet puppeteer Rob Tygner, who worked on the character Hoggle on the original film, and to hear a talk by Dr Andrea Wright on Jim Henson's worlds created on film.

 

All visitors were given a special Labyrinth pass and map, and they were able to fill out all the activities they visited and be entered for a prize draw.

 

It was an afternoon packed full of wonder, and we are very grateful to the many Cheney students and external organisations who ran exciting stalls and activities, and to the very many visitors who came to the festival.