Hi there! I'm not going to get into major specifics but to give you an idea, I enjoy and am getting fairly competent at event organizing. I'd really
like to do something that gives UFO enthusiasts, paranormal fans etc the chance to "celebrate" the field.
But the events that do occur don't really seem very celebratory. You have clubs, that run like any other clubs I presume - a night a month in a
village hall. You have conferences which seem extremely serious (and that's fine) and typically run with the theme of "We are pushing for disclosure"
every time. And some book sellings
I'd like to try and set something up that's along these lines but also a little different. More of a 'festival' than a club or a conference. A place
for people to camp, enjoy music and have their face painted. But by night do some skywatching, show live infra-red feeds over big screens, astronomy,
etc etc. I just think it'd be more "fun" and more celebratory than the other events of UFOlogy.
So I've been looking into land that can be hired and have found a very reasonable set of fields that allow for a lot of parking, camping, fireworks,
open fires etc. Although it's shadowed by Reading (UK) it's a nice site set right on the river thames with Toad Hall across the way. It's also 10 mins
from the A4, and about 30 mins drive from Avebury, Silbury etc.
I had considered somewhere close to Avebury (so that the event itself could be in the heart of crop circle county) but the options in those areas are
limited, and a lot, lot smaller. Good for a few enthusiasts to meet up but not a general bunch of people. Purley is still in good range of these sites
though.
So my questions are straight forward.
1) Would you attend a UK festival that celebrates the phenomena, typically summertime?
2) How long would you stay for, one night, two or three?
3) Are you a camper, or do you prefer to stay in caravans/motorhome?
4) What kind of activities would you want from such a festival/event? My ideas include:
- Skywatching, astronomy tuition, live IR feeds
- Live music, face painting, mystics and palm readers
- Daytime trips by specially arranged coach to Avebury and any current crop circles
- Food, drink (and bar) toilets, parking, fireworks, etc
- What else? Quadcopter demonstrations? Chinese lantern lighting? (activities to help people stop mis-idenfifying UFOs
)
5) What would you hope to get out of it? ie: To see some of the local places like Silbury Hill? To possibly see a UFO? To meet other people who share
an interest? You tell me.
Basically I'm willing to get it running even if it's on a small scale. Initially I'll really just be working with the enthusiasm/lack of that appears
here in this thread. And there is no team organized for such a thing at this point, it's very early stages. But I intend to have a proper inspection
of the site if there's positive reactions. And of course, happy to hear some ideas or suggestions. There are no guarantees (certainly not for this
year) but, it's without a doubt that at some point I'll run an event of this nature, no idea on the scale - but yeah it's important for me that such
an event is there for people to visit, cos there doesn't seem to be much going on beyond clubs (that seem to be dying off anyway) and conferences
(that typically only happen in USA).
Is there some other big paranormal/UFO festival? All I can really think of are the conferences in America that take place in airport Hilton or what
not each year... This would be less that. I can't imagine tempting an ex-military 80 yr old veteran to come and talk in a field...
But we can have
a boogie and a beer and look at the stars and spot a fast-walker or two
thanks for your time! ML
edit on 9-1-2014 by markymint because: (no reason given)