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So... Is it possible to openly bring or secretly smuggle our own drinks in or not? That's what I really want to know...
 
girasol said:
So... Is it possible to openly bring or secretly smuggle our own drinks in or not? That's what I really want to know...
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They search bags so tricky though saw people with their own cans so must be possible.

Was actually good selection of beers from local breweries but very much West End pub prices.
 
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girasol said:
So... Is it possible to openly bring or secretly smuggle our own drinks in or not? That's what I really want to know...
Click to expand...

There was a very cursory bag search (they didn't check bags within bags) , but you might be unlucky.
I emptied my water flask before I went in, it wasn't checked & then I left early because I couldn't find any of the water refill stations & then couldn't be bothered to trek round the fence to go back in. (It wasnt really that far and there were no queues at the entrances - I was just tired & lazy and done with crowds).

You can hear the music pretty well from the grass outside the fence up near Brockwell Hall so thats a good place for a picnic, and much greener than anywhere inside.

Just over the hill by the ponds / kids playground it was quiet enough that you'd hardly notice there was anything on.
 
edcraw said:
Fact is this just wouldn’t happen without the paid for festivals since council budgets have been decimated.
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This isn't actually true. There's no need to fund the Country Show from festival income alone. Council income and expenditure all goes in and out of the same pot. It's naive to accept their self-serving PR narrative without criticism.
 
Rushy said:
Have you ever been asked to evidence a claim you have made in a formal environment?
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Think that’s pretty solid evidence of how councils have had to cut cultural spend tbh.

We used to have 3 free fireworks displays in Lambeth we now have 1 paid for one.
 
edcraw said:
Think that’s pretty solid evidence of how councils have had to cut cultural spend tbh.
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Exactly. You have demonstrated that councils have cut cultural spend. Not that there would be no country show. That's quite a leap. It's your liberal use of the word "fact" to describe your "opinion" that grates.
 
Tulster218 said:
This isn't actually true. There's no need to fund the Country Show from festival income alone. Council income and expenditure all goes in and out of the same pot. It's naive to accept their self-serving PR narrative without criticism.
Click to expand...

This isn’t actually true

The HRA is ring fenced
 
Rushy said:
Exactly. You have demonstrated that councils have cut cultural spend. Not that there would be no country show. That's quite a leap. It's your liberal use of the word "fact" to describe your "opinion" that grates.
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Alright - I doubt it would happen if not for the paid for festivals. It now needs a lot more security than it did in the past and I don’t see how the council would be able to justify funding it whilst it remaining free considering the massive cuts in central government funding of councils due to the Tories austerity measures just like has happened with the bonfire night displays.
 
teuchter said:
I'm displeased that the country show is now forced to happen on this date, too early in the summer. The country show is supposed to happen during proper summer.
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The country show was sweltering last year and it happened on the same weekend. Just a crap summer innit?
 
I was stopped at the main Herne Hill gate this afternoon for carrying a camera. Nothing obtrusive or too professional looking - an Olympus PEN-F.

I was told by the first line of security "strictly no cameras on site." I asked how this argument stacks up with camera phones. No reply...

I kept on walking.

The second line of security by the table for the bag search stopped me and repeated the line. "Absolutely no entry with a camera."

I asked to speak to a supervisor.

He waved me through.

wtf was that all about?
 
Once inside and it's all SO bland. Sure, I like it the current Country Show and had a half decent afternoon. Rodigan was ace.

But away from the live entertainment, it's all a bit meh. I want to have a chat with the local society stall holders. I miss the various Friends groups. I kinda miss winding up some of the right wing lot on the Lambeth Labour stall.

But now it's aisle after aisle of food, clothing or booze.

Add in the Great Wall and the stupid booze ban and you have a Lambeth Country Show that doesn't feel like a Lambeth Show any more. I could have been in any park in a major city.

But yeah, it's still something I get vaguely excited about each summer.
 
I didn't get there til 5ish yesterday. I get what you are saying about bland Tricky Skills but I'm not sure I've seen a free event of this scale in any other london park yet. It was a nice afternoon (?evening!). I snuck in some booze and clearly so did everyone else! So many dogs to say hello to, and I went and said hi to all the sheep.

Had some delicious food including some spicy lentil balls which I wish I'd had a second round of.

Rodigan was Rodigan and got the crowd happy but I'm not sure his continual shouts for crowd participation worked. Luciano was good and I liked that he flagged up something going awry down the front of the crowd.

I watched the lamb national which was disappointing as the sheepdog didn't bite anyone as promised. An earlier sheepdog show with the dog and a big cockerel went a bit wrong as the dog actually went for the cockerel and pulled a few feathers :eek:

Crowd was great, everyone seemed to be having a great time. I don't see any aggro and just one obvious casualty being taken to welfare.

Gonna try to take a crew next year. The only people I saw I recognised was Mr C from the Shaken/shamen and Dave :hmm:
 
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They really missed an opportunity to celebrate the 50 years of this event. I would have loved to have seen an exhibition telling the story from the first event up until now using pictures, people, art and artists who have experienced or been a part if it. The large screens could have been used to great effect to bring that history to life, but instead they threw up some sloppy promo material between and behind the main stage artists - some of which looked like it was done in powerpoint (and really distracted me!)

The line up was weak this year, and slap dash. The Real Thing were very good, and Top Cats were great. Luciano was alright, but he didn't get the crowd really going in the same way that Top Cats/Youthsayers had at the beginning of the day; plus he was 15 minutes late on so never really got going before he was gone again (tech issues to blame I think). The female roll call was amateur at best, and the song choices were obvious (They had a chance to celebrate females in reggae, but it all felt like a something they pulled together at the last minute and was male songwriter heavy). After 50 years this was not a stellar or celebratory line up at all, and with all that history they could have drawn more on the past, and from local talent. Real Thing are from liverpool, Chidren of Zeus (so dull!) from Manchester - fine, but what do they have to do with Lambeth? I hate Rodigan's live shows anyway, and am still amazed that he can draw and keep a crowd with his current routine - just play the record, man! The main stage lacked a real Legend yesterday.

The village green is not a village green anymore, it's a tent tucked away by some toilets. It was dark in there too. Not very village or green.

The latin stage is a nice addition, but I hardly went near it because the direction of wandering never really go me there too often.

To me, it feels like the country show is now an after thought. Thrown together instead of curated. Nothing really changes for the better, and everything that is the same is squeezed in to a smaller package and delivered with less love and attention.

The most exciting bit of weekend was the helicopter landing. Which is clearly not a good thing.

I've gone every year since about 1992 and I love it, but I did feel a bit deflated and tired of it all as I walked home last night. That said, the crowd was huge yesterday, so I hope that it does come back stronger and better next year. If the council bin it off it will be a huge loss regardless of what grumpy old me thinks.
 
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