Strawberry Fair, Cambridge (June 7th)
- Thread starter Prince Rhyus
- Start date
disturbing the shoppers?! Whatever next.
Bloody hell - can't people have a little rest from consuming just to enjoy themselves for five minutes?
I agree with that too, but I think foo was being sarcy
Prince, even stressed revising students can deal with some drums for 20 minutes on a bloody Saturday, not even that early either.
If they want a real lie in (and good on em) foam earplugs and ale and ganja the night before work wonders!!! IME ....
foo
dirtysweet
me? sarcy? surely not
was in a pub garden with a mate who works on strawberry fair yesterday - and he said they've got so little dosh but they're really trying to make it more interesting, with more things to look at and more bands etc. this year.
he rambled on for a while but all i heard was - there will be 30 stilt walkers.
which might mean......
the insects are coming back!
was in a pub garden with a mate who works on strawberry fair yesterday - and he said they've got so little dosh but they're really trying to make it more interesting, with more things to look at and more bands etc. this year.
he rambled on for a while but all i heard was - there will be 30 stilt walkers.
which might mean......
the insects are coming back!
El Sueno
Dabbler
I've decided to go again this year, but I don't know what state I'll be in. I'm mini-bussing down to the Contagious Bouncing Ball in Salisbury on the Friday night, getting back to London about 8/9 or so the next morning. Probably best just to hop on a train straight up to Cambs and get there early, find a nice place to sit in the sun for the day.
Biddlybee
making knots with sticks
zenie
>^^<
£14 if you book the times, £25 open return
I want to know if they're likely not to let bikes on the trains that day?
Yer I thought someone might know without me having to look it up
Why do you want to take your bike? You can't ride bikes pissed
Biddlybee
making knots with sticks
I might not be pissed all dayWhy do you want to take your bike? You can't ride bikes pissed
... would be nice to cycle up to the green from the station, but yeh would probably not want it after that!
zenie
>^^<
I might not be pissed all day
Is it a long walk?
I will be (pissed) if I get a day return and don't camp!
Guineveretoo
Mostly bewildered
It's not that long a walk from the station to Midsummer Common, but worth looking for the short cuts...
Crack downs???? (on al fresco/independent drinking, free and easiness etc.) ??
Interesting/alarming exchanges currently going on in the Not allowed to bring booze to the Godiva Festival thread (it's a free one, in Coventry, but run/organised by the council, unlike SF).
Relevant to SF :
Does any of the above stuff that pogofish and free spirit are discussing, pose any real threat to the Strawbery Fair we've all known and loved?
Foo, Guinevere, other knowledgeables, have you heard anything?
Interesting/alarming exchanges currently going on in the Not allowed to bring booze to the Godiva Festival thread (it's a free one, in Coventry, but run/organised by the council, unlike SF).
Relevant to SF :
William of Walworth said:We never get this sorta thing at Strawberry Fair .... WE HOPE!!!
pogofish said:
William of Walworth said:
freespirit said:
Wiliam of Walworth said:
pogofish said:
free spirit said:
William of Walworth said:
Wiliam of Walworth said:
Does any of the above stuff that pogofish and free spirit are discussing, pose any real threat to the Strawbery Fair we've all known and loved?
Foo, Guinevere, other knowledgeables, have you heard anything?
foo
dirtysweet
dunno Will - but it doesn't look good does it!
i'll cut and paste that lot in to an email to my St Fair friend. G might know more about it, but i don't i'm afraid.
something's in my mind about laws changing around common land but i can't bring it to the fore right now....my brain is filled with work and wet shoes.
if i find out anything, i'll post it up.
i'll cut and paste that lot in to an email to my St Fair friend. G might know more about it, but i don't i'm afraid.
something's in my mind about laws changing around common land but i can't bring it to the fore right now....my brain is filled with work and wet shoes.
if i find out anything, i'll post it up.
dunno Will - but it doesn't look good does it!
i'll cut and paste that lot in to an email to my St Fair friend. G might know more about it, but i don't i'm afraid.
something's in my mind about laws changing around common land but i can't bring it to the fore right now....my brain is filled with work and wet shoes.
if i find out anything, i'll post it up.
I might be overpanicking to be honest (at least for THIS year
) -- the above exchange was general chat, mostly about general moves by Councils re free/open air events. So with luck your friend will be reasonably reassuring ....Thanks for asking anyway
free spirit
more tea vicar?
lol - stop panicking william, I'm sure the strawberry fayre mob are capable of seeing off any daft attempts by the council / police better than newcastle green fest were at that point (happened at the point the festival was kinda falling apart already with a lot of the old hands having left - myself included due to, well multiple factors, I'll be diplomatic and say nowt)
anyway, just popped in to make sure it didn't come across like I actually knew anything about the SF situation specifically - I don't, was just saying that this seems to be a general national strategy, it's what's now (apparently) being taught as being best practice to the police ents bods, & council licensing bods when they get together on their little seminars and stuff, so if a problem does occur at sf one year, then I'd bet my last quid that the council / police will suggest it... hopefully SF can resist it though because we need at least a few high profile free festies to be able to keep running without the fences and the alcohol bans to give everyone else any chance of countering the council / police's arguements.
re the 9pm thing on the licence, I wasn't referring to SF, just saying that generally the council applying for a year round ents licence for a park can be a good thing if done right, but there is a danger that a local residents group (or the police) that got it's knickers in a right twist about it could end up forcing a council to go for an earlier finishing time for the permanent license than you'd want. Basically if a council was to do this to the sf sight, they'd just need to keep a careful eye on things, go down to the residents association etc. to be sure. If done right it's a good thing, but there is potential for it to go wrong, particularly if all event organisers who use the site aren't properly involved in the process.
No idea if this is happening with the SF site or not (which was why it was said on a different thread, and not in here mr of walworth... grrr
).
anyway, just popped in to make sure it didn't come across like I actually knew anything about the SF situation specifically - I don't, was just saying that this seems to be a general national strategy, it's what's now (apparently) being taught as being best practice to the police ents bods, & council licensing bods when they get together on their little seminars and stuff, so if a problem does occur at sf one year, then I'd bet my last quid that the council / police will suggest it... hopefully SF can resist it though because we need at least a few high profile free festies to be able to keep running without the fences and the alcohol bans to give everyone else any chance of countering the council / police's arguements.
re the 9pm thing on the licence, I wasn't referring to SF, just saying that generally the council applying for a year round ents licence for a park can be a good thing if done right, but there is a danger that a local residents group (or the police) that got it's knickers in a right twist about it could end up forcing a council to go for an earlier finishing time for the permanent license than you'd want. Basically if a council was to do this to the sf sight, they'd just need to keep a careful eye on things, go down to the residents association etc. to be sure. If done right it's a good thing, but there is potential for it to go wrong, particularly if all event organisers who use the site aren't properly involved in the process.
No idea if this is happening with the SF site or not (which was why it was said on a different thread, and not in here mr of walworth... grrr
).
Last year for some reason anyone who arrived for Strawberry Fayre by train found a massive police presence at the station. They seemed to choose arbitrarily to pat some people down while others - me included were just waved through having waited in a long slow queue. I wondered if there had been some sort of bomb scare. I never found out what it was all about. Was it to intimidate possible drug carriers.
Strangely enough on the site itself the police presence was unobtrusive. They had a compound with police vehicles in it directly downwind of the reggae tent but didn't seem to respond to the aroma of fresh grass emanating from it. Meanwhile a pair of policemen wandered aimiably about the site.
Strangely enough on the site itself the police presence was unobtrusive. They had a compound with police vehicles in it directly downwind of the reggae tent but didn't seem to respond to the aroma of fresh grass emanating from it. Meanwhile a pair of policemen wandered aimiably about the site.
free spirit
more tea vicar?
my god I'm a nosey bastard... but looking at the minutes from the friends of midsummer common website, it does look like the sf peeps have a bit of an ongoing battle on their hands with local residents... the latest minutes seem more positive though, reading between the lines the old chair seemed to have a major bee in his bonnet about sf, and resigned end of last year... erm.
i think i have some work on festivals I actually am involved in to be doing, will leave the strawberry fayre lot to it, coz they definately know what they're about.
i think i have some work on festivals I actually am involved in to be doing, will leave the strawberry fayre lot to it, coz they definately know what they're about.
Cheers for those posts free spirit, what you say is encouraging for SF continuing to be able to tread a different path to most free events
I do think it's useful/interesting to make the distinctions and discuss the issues in an SF context though, which is why I brought the chat over here to this thread ...
I share your confidence in the organisers, I know they do a grand job, and on reflection I did realise I was panicking too much at first
Will be interesting to hear what foo's mate says, straight from the Strawberry plant's root to to speak ...
I do think it's useful/interesting to make the distinctions and discuss the issues in an SF context though, which is why I brought the chat over here to this thread ...
I share your confidence in the organisers, I know they do a grand job, and on reflection I did realise I was panicking too much at first
Will be interesting to hear what foo's mate says, straight from the Strawberry plant's root to to speak ...
The overbearing Police at the station on the Saturday were British Transport, those on site were Cambridgeshire
If you're coming this year folks, pack your day bags sensibly
We'll be in Cambridge from Friday
The Strawberry Fair sections of those minutes are fascinating!!!
To festival geeks, anyway
Have you you seen them, Foo, locals??
The tone of them was certainly much more hostile prior to the turn of the year than now -- with Chairman King in charge in 2007, the hatred of the Fair was toxic! But now, most recent minutes have a mention of members of the Friends of Midsummer Common Committee walking the site with 2 of the SF Organisers , discussing issues in what looks like a fairly amicable way ...
Has their old talk of the FoMC trying to get SF moved to Coldhams Common, trying for the banning of alcohol, even getting the whole shebang closed down, etc etc been dropped?
Guineveretoo
Mostly bewildered
It's interesting that the "FOMC" see Strawberry Fair as being their biggest problem, despite their being many other events on the Common, including fairs and circuses and markets and fireworks. It can only be because so many people turn up for Strawberry Fair, compared to any other event. It turns out that one of my friends from years ago is on that committee - he and his wife go to Strawberry Fair every year, and are certainly not opposed to it, but the notes of the meetings suggest there is unanimous opposition to the event.
It seems that the opposition is not to the event, but to the mess and people pissing up against fences and stuff. For those, they have a point, and I do hope the Strawberry Fair committee can get some more toilets (I wasn't there last year, but there was a constant and long queue for them the year before). I know that the SF committee try really hard to get the litter cleared up, and do a fantastic job, but people still chuck rubbish over fences and into gardens, which is out of order. Also, when the weather is either very wet or very dry, the crowds have churned up the common and, although it always recovers, it does look awful afterwards.
Back when I was on the organising committee for Strawberry Fair, there was no organised FOMC, but there were two councillors who lived in the houses nearby, who made a right fuss, and who had to be charmed. I had to go round to the house of one of them (a Tory) for a meeting. It was beautiful and really, really posh. I tried not to look or sound too much like a hippy, and he withdrew his objection, so perhaps I had some limited success! Of course, since then, the Tories have been wiped out in Cambridge, but, presumably, the posh houses remain!
It seems that the opposition is not to the event, but to the mess and people pissing up against fences and stuff. For those, they have a point, and I do hope the Strawberry Fair committee can get some more toilets (I wasn't there last year, but there was a constant and long queue for them the year before). I know that the SF committee try really hard to get the litter cleared up, and do a fantastic job, but people still chuck rubbish over fences and into gardens, which is out of order. Also, when the weather is either very wet or very dry, the crowds have churned up the common and, although it always recovers, it does look awful afterwards.
Back when I was on the organising committee for Strawberry Fair, there was no organised FOMC, but there were two councillors who lived in the houses nearby, who made a right fuss, and who had to be charmed. I had to go round to the house of one of them (a Tory) for a meeting. It was beautiful and really, really posh. I tried not to look or sound too much like a hippy, and he withdrew his objection, so perhaps I had some limited success! Of course, since then, the Tories have been wiped out in Cambridge, but, presumably, the posh houses remain!
To those thinking of camping at the end of the site, this really, really isn't a good idea this year!
Today, I belatedly picked up on a message posted a while ago on my SF thread on efestivals, by Martin Twiss, chair of the Strawberry Fair organising committee.
Camping on Midsummer Common around Fair time has never been offically authorised, but up til last year the unofficial campsite seemed to have been tolerated.
NOT THIS YEAR THOUGH!! -- Read this ...
There is also a page on the official Strawberry Fair website in which the no camping thing is also mentioned, among other discouragements to stuff of the sort Guinevere mentions above. But IMO the no camping thing is not emphasised anything like as strongly on the wesbite as in the above message.
My question is what will happen to the unofficial (but also up til now tolerated) live-in vehicle parkup at that end of the site, right by the Elizabeth Way flyover??
Will that be excluded too?
It's a shame the camping option is being clamped down on, but it really does look like the organisers had no choice if they want to keep the Fair going.
Today, I belatedly picked up on a message posted a while ago on my SF thread on efestivals, by Martin Twiss, chair of the Strawberry Fair organising committee.
Camping on Midsummer Common around Fair time has never been offically authorised, but up til last year the unofficial campsite seemed to have been tolerated.
NOT THIS YEAR THOUGH!! -- Read this ...
Martin Twiss said:
There is also a page on the official Strawberry Fair website in which the no camping thing is also mentioned, among other discouragements to stuff of the sort Guinevere mentions above. But IMO the no camping thing is not emphasised anything like as strongly on the wesbite as in the above message.
My question is what will happen to the unofficial (but also up til now tolerated) live-in vehicle parkup at that end of the site, right by the Elizabeth Way flyover??
Will that be excluded too?
It's a shame the camping option is being clamped down on, but it really does look like the organisers had no choice if they want to keep the Fair going.
onenameshelley
is Major Morgan's bitch
oooh i am still coming to this, there will be a pm for Aunty Foo on its way soon as i am intending to bit outside your house till you lets me in oh and also i have no clue where Cambridge is really its sort of westy and up a bit from london right?
oh and also i have no clue where Cambridge is really its sort of westy and up a bit from london right?
Guineveretoo
Mostly bewildered
oooh i am still coming to this, there will be a pm for Aunty Foo on its way soon as i am intending to bit outside your house till you lets me in
It's North East of London. Trains from Kings Cross, coaches from Victoria. Driving, it's up the M11.
foo
dirtysweet
oooh i am still coming to this, there will be a pm for Aunty Foo on its way soon as i am intending to bit outside your house till you lets me in
you're intending to bit outside my house?
are you a horse?
are you mental?
