Brockwell Park: Annual Cannabis March & Festival 5th June 2004

[Brixton Hatter]

very disapointing, but a fair enough decision. This actually happened once before, two or three years ago. The irony was that the original day was actually sunny and when the re-planned day came round, it poured down with rain!

 

[DJWrongspeed]

The right decision, if anyone was on Dulwich rd last week you'll know the rain's been pretty mental of late. Brockwell park does suffer from poor drainage and the last thing Jday needs to do is mess the park up. More time to raise money and get stuff sorted , looking on the positive side.

 

[TeeJay]

teeJay-it might be an idea to phone him again, and get him to update the website

Have done so (although to be fair Shane hates computers and it is someone in North London who is doing the website )

www.thecannabisfestival.co.uk

 

[William of Walworth]

This is really really disappointing, although after the gargantuan amount of rain we've had lately, not that surprising (I remember the postponement of JayDay 2001 ... it was put off to mid-June that year. Then it rained torrentially!
)

Saturday 12th June would be an ideal replacement

Whoever came up with 5th June needs to ahem clear their heads a little bit
-- as already stated this is Strawberry Fair date.

For these two rare free festivals to clash would be

TRULY TRAGIC!!

People are so forgetful and disorganised about dates .... no offence to the JayDay organisers who have been working really hard to put on an excellent event, but 5 June??!!

Honestly ... !!!

Reassurance that this is being sorted out please!

 

[William of Walworth]

5th June is all wrong on every level ...

Re. June 5th and Strawberry Faire: I've just got off the phone with Shane and he's asked me to say that due to the clash with Strawberry Faire on June 5th they are actually reconsidering the re-scheduled date. He is discussing it with people now and they will decide 'within the hour' ... so if people could hold back slightly from forewarding on the June 5th date until it has been confirmed, as it is possible that it will be shifted to the following week instead (especially since many of the Cannabis Festival traders and stalls are going to be at Cambridge on 5th). I (or ShaneC) will update this thread with the news as soon as a decision is reached.

Please do not confirm that 5th June date!!!!!

Who on earth came up with that stroke of genius??

<really really nervous>

 

[han]

Whoever came up with 5th June needs to ahem clear their heads a little bit
-- as already stated this is Strawberry Fair date.

God yes - what a very unfortunate (and rather un-thought-out) clash!!!

Ho well - better late than never, eh, and we HAVE been having downpours of biblical proportions recently....

Sat 3rd July would be a good date too perhaps? Not much going on in the festie calendar then....

 

[William of Walworth]

Strawberry Fair clash idiocy aside (and they'd better be changing that!!), I'm actually fairly glad it's being postponed, the forecast for this coming Saturday (8th May) is pretty shit from what I can see so far ...

5th June would be unacceptable though ...

 

[TeeJay]

Sorry, but the latest is that June 5th is going to have to be the date because apparently after that many of the crew are going to be doing other events and simply aren't available. Shane is sending out an email now, so I will post it as soon as it arrives. I have also told him that people are a bit upset about the clash of dates and have asked him if he gets a bit of time, if he would come here and explain in more detail the reasons behind it and why the next week wasn't possible.

(...and please don't shoot the messenger! )

 

[TeeJay]

Saturday 5th June CONFIRMED as the NEW DATE for the 6th Re-Legalise
Cannabis March & Festival

PLEASE PASS THIS ON.

Greetings from a very wet Brixton,

We have had to POSTPONE the 6th Annual Cannabis March and Festival until
Saturday 5th June 2004.

This is due to a very waterlogged park, (ducks by the Hip Hop Stage, small
streams and much standing water.) The forecast is rain with thunder over
the next few days, so after a meeting with the Parks Dept at noon today
(tuesday) we have had to Postpone the event.

Please note that ' POSTPONED till Saturday 5th June ' is the phrase (not
cancelled). This will be the weekend before the GLA & Euro elctions.

Many apologies for this late change but we have no choice.

regards

Shane Collins
Event Licencee
www.thecannabisfestival.co.uk

_____________________

 

[William of Walworth]

For fucks sake!!!!

Did the clash of dates not even occur to them? I know that some of the organising committee are involved in other festivals, and Strawberry Fair is written large on many peoples' festival calendar.

I am really pissed off now!!!

Please, please, please can I urge and re-urge the JayDay orrganising committee to rethink this through properly. Many JayDay loyalists will be very dismayed and disappointed, and will be undergoing a large conflict of interest about which one to go to. The same will be true, even more so, of stallholders, many of whom as you said will have pre-existing Strawberry Fair commitments.

You could not have picked a worse replacement date. I'm going to find it very hard to promote the new date amongst festival lovers on efestivals. Many of them while committed to the Legalise It cause, will be feeling much the same as me about this.

Cannot those crew who are genuinely unable to make the 12th (are they getting involved in Glastonbury so early??) be replaced? There'll be one or two Urbanites, including myself, very happy to help for a replacement date of June 12th.

I have so much respect for the JayDay organisers and for everything they do, but this is a pretty fundamental mistake in my opinion. In fact I'm finding it pretty hard to forgive their total lack of consideration of a really obvious, and particularly unsuitable, date clash!

People are so fucking disorganised about dates!!

Sort it out -- please.

 

[William of Walworth]

So the Kingston green fair is 31st May (bank holiday Monday) The LCF is on the 5th June.

Correct on both accounts. For fucks sake, 5th June for Legalise Cannabis -- and they have to go and fucking pick the same sodding day as Strawberry Fair!

<fuming>

 

[Streathamite]

Shane, mate-ffs try and find an alternative date-ANY alternative date. I know it's never easy, and I know your options are limited, but that's just about the worst date possible.

 

[TeeJay]

Did the clash of dates not even occur to them?

I can assure you that they did understand that the date clashed. I was not involved in the decision, but Shane has told me on the phone that some really essential members of the crew simply could not do any weekend after June 5th because they are working to set up Glastonbury. I don't have a clue as to why it couldn't be done *before* June 5th. All I can do is suggest that you get in touch with Shane directly by telephone. If you don't have his number then contact me by PM. All I can do is apologise for this clash and say that now everyone is spoilt for choice. I am sure that everyone at the cannabis festival wishes Strawberry fair all the best and in no way wants to hurt it, but I suppose they were simpy faced with the choice of a clash or cancelling the Cannabis Festival outright, in which case the decision is understandable. Hopefully Shane will be able to get online in a bit and respond, although he is probably going to be on the phone constantly until late tonight to make sure all the crew, volunteers and contractors know that the dates been changed - otherwise people will be turning up by mistake on Saturday!

 

[William of Walworth]

Saturday 22nd May, Saturday 27th May, Saturday 12th June, Saturday 19th June (a bit too close to Glasto perhaps?), Saturday 3rd July ...

Look at all those options! But they have to pick the no. one top ranking worst date possible ....

 

[TeeJay]

Saturday 22nd May, Saturday 27th May, Saturday 12th June, Saturday 19th June (a bit too close to Glasto perhaps?), Saturday 3rd July ...

Look at all those options! But they have to pick the no. one top ranking worst date possible ....

I don't know about the other dates but 12th and 19th June are impossible as key members of the organising team and crew are involved in setting up for Glastonbury.

I'm sorry to anyone who is now faced with the dilemma of which one to go to, but please spare a thought for the crews and organisers who are having to reorganise their work schdules as well, and don't really have a choice about things they are already contracted to do.

 

[William of Walworth]

Hi TeeJay

Yes, I can see that it's not easy for the organisers. And I do understand now why 12th and 19th June would not work ... 12th seemed to me at first a bit early to impinge on Glastonbury, but on reflection it's a huge city of 100,000 plus people, so will need a fair few weeks to set up.

But I still think this JayDay/Strawberry Fair clash is a mini-disaster.

It's probably too late, but here is the message I have just emailed Shane :

Hello Shane

I understand from Urban 75 that the March and Festival has had to be postponed.

I am a big suppoorter of the event, and I have up til now been promoting awareness of it as widely as I can. I really don't want to sound too critical or negative.

But I have no choice but to say that the proposed replacement date of Saturday June 5th could not have been a more unsuitable choice. You and the organisers are, I know, aware that June 5th is the same date as one of the UK's very few other free festivals, Strawberry Fair in Cambridge.

Please, please, please can I urge and re-urge you and the JayDay organising committee to rethink this through properly? Many JayDay loyalists are like myself comnmitted to uncommercial small scale festivals, and will thus be very dismayed and disappointed, and will be undergoing a large conflict of interest about which one to go to.

The same will be true, even more so, of stallholders, many of whom will have pre-existing Strawberry Fair commitments.

I am aware that choices of this kind (especially when forced on you) are far from easy, and that alternative options are limited. I am also aware that some of your crew and organisers will be involved in Glastonbury and thus the most suitable replacement date otherwise (June 12th) can't happen.

But can I urge Saturday May 27th to be considered? It is very close to Kingston Green Fair on Monday 31st May, but otherwise I can see few disadvantages to it.

As it currently stands, my commitments and Stig's will have to lie with Strawberry Fair and we will be unable to help steward the JayDay march as promised earlier.

Many apologies for this!

William [of Walworth]

 

[shaneC]

Many apologies to people for whom the 5th June is a tricky date. For various reasons - crew being unavailable for the 27th or the 12th we decided to go for the 5th June. Surprisingly few catering stalls are booked for us and Strawberry Fair and by the 12th we start to lose crew to Pilton, so we decided to go for the 5th June.

 

[Rollem]

bloody british weather, wrecking everyones diaries!

looks like i am gonna have to miss j-day for the first time in gawd knows how long strawberry fair for me on the 5th i think

still, hope all goes well and its a smashing day -sunshine vibe and smiles all round

 

[LDR]

looks like i am gonna have to miss j-day for the first time in gawd knows how long strawberry fair for me on the 5th i think

Same here.

 

[aurora green]

Call me a terrible blasphema, but I've never really got Strawberry fair.. For me it's always a nightmare journey, either on the train, then really long walk through town, or the few times I've got a lift in a van, the impossible parking situation, always resulting in again, a bloody long walk.
You get there exhausted, and after a couple of hours its time to make the long journey home again.

 

[Brixton Hatter]

To be fair, I know this change has had the unfortunate effect of spoiling the plans of William and others, but I think the potential audiences for the two festivals are quite different:

Strawberry Fair - festival goers all over southern England/midlands
Cannabis Festival - mostly (younger) Londoners

 

[lang rabbie]

2. Objects and Values

2.1 The object of the Fair shall be to hold a Fair, called Strawberry Fair, annually on Midsummer Common, Cambridge, on the first (1st) Saturday in June, for the benefit of the local community, particularly the children. The Fair shall have free entry and entertainments, including music and theatre.

2.2 The Fair shall be a non-political organisation and shall not be affiliated to any political group or publicly express any political views. No Fair member shall represent any political group when engaged on Fair business.

2.3 Strawberry Fair is fully committed to the principles of equality and equity in all of its dealings and manifestations

http://www.strawberry-fair.org.uk/
These laudable objectives being paid for by the beer/cider etc consumed by the festival goers from all over southern England/midlands

 

[William of Walworth]

Call me a terrible blasphema, but I've never really got Strawberry fair.. For me it's always a nightmare journey, either on the train, then really long walk through town, or the few times I've got a lift in a van, the impossible parking situation, always resulting in again, a bloody long walk.
You get there exhausted, and after a couple of hours its time to make the long journey home again.

You blasphema!!!!!

I suppose it helps (for me) that I have a brother in Cambridge. For visitors for the day from London or from further, parking/transport can at times be something of a pain I'd agree ...

That said, LOADS of peeps from London make it up there for well over a couple of hours including (the last two or three years) large numbers of Urban-types.

And it's one of our very few surviving manifestations of free festival culture, which is why (whether you like SF or not) it's such a shame that they have to clash this year.

 

[William of Walworth]

To be fair, I know this change has had the unfortunate effect of spoiling the plans of William and others, but I think the potential audiences for the two festivals are quite different:

Strawberry Fair - festival goers all over southern England/midlands
Cannabis Festival - mostly (younger) Londoners

I think you're overdeterministic there Brixton Hatter.

I've been to 13 Strawberry Fairs (I think) and 4 JayDays. The demographic of both has overlapped hugely -- strict geography may mean there is to an extent something of a different crowd geographically. But the overlap in people who are attracted to both is still huge -- lovers of free festie culture, alternative culture, counter culture. I have certainly seen planty of the exact same people at both, and I knpow of quite a few who will be disappointed that they have to choose. And as I said to Aurora, lots of Londoners do make the trip up to Cambridge, you should see the platforms at Kings Cross on the Saturday -- hippy and crustie central!

But we'l be missing JayDay this year

 

[Rollem]

I suppose it helps (for me) that I have a brother in Cambridge. For visitors for the day from London or from further, parking/transport can at times be something of a pain I'd agree ...

they lay on a free minibus service fom cambridge station to the common if thats any help to anyone...

agree with wililam, loads of people do both j-day and SF, with heaps travelling from london. shame that those people have to choose, but hey ho, thats the price of trusting the weather ! (would probably be slightly more gutted if i wasnt on a sabaitcal from the mighty herb at the mo, admittedly )

 

[William of Walworth]

So are you giving both a miss then Rollem?

Or being all respectable on us at Strawberry Fair??

 

[Brixton Hatter]

I think you're overdeterministic there Brixton Hatter....The demographic of both has overlapped hugely ..

Fair enough. To be honest, I would have liked to go to SF too, but seeing as the CF is on my doorstep (literally) it's Brockwell Park for me. Shane and co obviously had no other choice, it's just really unfortunate.

One thing though - seeing as this is the second time the Jday has been rained off in the last few years, why cant it be held at a time when the weather is almost guaranteed to be better, ie july or august?

 

[Streathamite]

this being bloody England, I doubt we could find ANY point in the year where sunshine is guaranteed

 

[kea]

anyone fancy a diy-jayday meet-up this weekend instead? some beers and smoke and socialising?

 

[Streathamite]

come on you lot-SOMEONE else must be up for it? useless unadventurous bunch...