Bungay Balls Up 2006 - my report (LONG)
Charlie
Well, no-one's posted a proper review as they're all distracted by this
new-fangled HLGCB thingie. So I thought I'd do one myself. Bear in mind
I'm biased, as I like Bungay so much I decided to run it myself a few
years ago. If anyone else fancies writing one as well, feel free!
Me and Alex got to the site on the Friday and walked round in the rain
trying to find someone. Monte had gone off somewhere to buy food or
something so we got cracking on signs, putting in electrics (always fun
as there's a particularly bendy tree to climb at one point, thankfully
I'm able to hang from my hands for short periods), and worrying about
why it was raining quite so much.
People started arriving that evening; we managed to get some people
lifts from the station but apologies to those who had to get a taxi. By
the evening we had around 10 punters, the hardcore types who don't want
to miss a minute of a convention - good for them. Much catching up was done.
The next day people started to arrive in earnest, and by the end of the
weekend we had around 25 or 30 - more than we started with last year. It
was still raining, so we decided to install a woodburner in the cafe
tent - a great move, as this kept the cafe warm all week, and made a
great focal point. I also found it therapeutic to go and chop wood
occasionally!
I had a go at putting the trapeze rig up, but between rain showers we
only managed to get it bolted together, not lifted. As it turned out it
wasn't going to get lifted for many days.
The rain continued. However, it didn't seem to be coming into the main
tent, or making the electrics go pop, so it wasn't much of a problem. We
decided to move the tent entrance round every day or so to try and
reduce the mud at the door, which worked well.
Juggling happened, a bit. Between ping pong, pool, card games, Scrabble
and generally hanging about and talking nonsense. I've always been
happiest in the company of jugglers and frankly it's enough for me to
just sit about and talk nonsense with them until the early hours. We
were also well supplied with delicious food from Monte and Jamie;
there's nothing like having two professional chefs on site, who are part
of the juggling scene and know quite how much we like to eat.
More people drifted in during the week, but the rain continued. Farmer
Paul built a straw-bale gents which seemed popular and allayed our
constant worries about the toilets filling up, which always seems to
happen just when you can't do anything about it. The hot showers kept
everyone cleaner than they should be in a muddy field and we even
managed to remember to switch the lights in the evenings.
Juggling; well, I passed with LP, which I'm not sure I've ever done;
threw 8 on doubles and singles at Colin; failed to get much more solid
on 2 diabolos, and of course practised the Bungay Trick - balancing a
spinning ball on a stick on my chin and juggling 3 clubs. Last year we
had 4 of us doing it, there must have been 10 at least this year. I ran
a couple of workshops as well - ball spinning and 3 club tricks.
The days blended into one; each day would start with getting up, having
a fryup and sitting in the cafe, then wandering about doing jobs on site
(making sure the tent wasn't falling down being a major one), then some
lunch, then a long evening of game playing, eating more delicious food
and meeting new and old friends. Everything was well lubricated by St
Peter's beer from the brewery 2 miles away.
The last weekend arrived and we had around 90 people. Sadly some had
decided not to come because of the weather - but honestly, it wasn't
that bad. I'm not sure I heard a single complaint. If we can cope with
the wettest May for 20 years, with only a part of the juggling tent
getting soggy, and everyone still smiling, then I think we're winning.
We had a great fireshow on Thursday night - one of the dryest days when
we also managed to do some trapeze - by Paul, Annetta and Rob, who were
off to do a gig in Chelmsford on Friday. The best thing was talking to a
local chap who had been walking his dog past the farm and dropped in,
don't think he expected that!
The show featured Grant Goldie - smooth on one diabolo and very flash
with a hat and cane; Rob and Paul club passing; Barnesy attempting some
2 and 3 diabolo tricks; Colin and Anwen acrobalancing (first time
performers!); The Void with cigar boxes; Tom Derrick with 1-5 large
tennis balls, and more (sorry if I'd forgotten you); all compered by
Little Paul. After the show the atmosphere in the big top was wonderful;
jugglers and some local public chatting and juggling, everyone smiling
and enjoying themselves. There were even a few starry-eyed convention
virgins, wondering quite what strange alternative world they'd suddenly
entered.
As the weekend ended there began the long goodbyes, the
not-quite-leaving-yet and the odd oh-ok-I'll-stay-till-tomorrow. We had
a lot of clearing up to do but also a lot of lovely volunteers. Thanks
to all of you, you know who you are; we couldn't do it without you.
We're home now and we're happy and tired; we've broken even financially
(just!); we've had a long week in the country with new and old friends;
we've played all kinds of board and card games; sat round a woodburner
until the early hours; celebrated our wedding anniversary 2 days late in
the Restaurant That Time Forgot; run through the buttercups; hung upside
down in the sun; tried our own and been amazed by other people's
juggling; heard about Farmer Paul's latest adventures on TV and eaten
many Banoffee Pies.
Bungay will return in 2007, in the last week of May. Keep an eye out for
videos and photos and post up your own. Thanks for making it a
marvellous week.
Cheers
Charlie & Alex
www.juggler.net/bungayballsup
Charlie
> Hi all,
>
> Well, no-one's posted a proper review as they're all distracted by this
> new-fangled HLGCB thingie. So I thought I'd do one myself. Bear in mind
> I'm biased, as I like Bungay so much I decided to run it myself a few
> years ago. If anyone else fancies writing one as well, feel free!
And my photos are at:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/charles.hull1/bungay06/
A reasonably random selection.
Cheers
Charlie
Azrelle
who's interested
http://azrelle.livejournal.com/
--
Azrelle
----== posted via www.jugglingdb.com ==----
Charlie
> Hi all,
>
> The show featured Grant Goldie - smooth on one diabolo and very flash
> with a hat and cane; Rob and Paul club passing; Barnesy attempting some
> 2 and 3 diabolo tricks; Colin and Anwen acrobalancing (first time
> performers!); The Void with cigar boxes; Tom Derrick with 1-5 large
> tennis balls, and more (sorry if I'd forgotten you); all compered by
> Little Paul. After the show the atmosphere in the big top was wonderful;
> jugglers and some local public chatting and juggling, everyone smiling
> and enjoying themselves. There were even a few starry-eyed convention
> virgins, wondering quite what strange alternative world they'd suddenly
> entered.
>
him out!
Charlie
Little Paul
>
> Also in the show was Rossy, with some great poems - sorry for leaving
> him out!
I was very impressed with Rossy and his poetry this year, I think it's
the first time I've ever seen him stick to the time limit that he'd
agreed to...
-Paul