Yesterday evening and
this morning social media in my world was alight with news, concerns
and worries about this year's kite festivals at Teston Bridge picnic
site. There was no festival there in June last year, and at the
August festival last year there was a meeting of "interested
parties" to discuss the future of these festivals. The
organiser was also invited, and he made it quite clear that he was
the organiser, and he would organise future events. So I for one took
him at his word... Perhaps we all should?
Recently all manner of
scare stories and misinformation has been bandied about concerning
the kiting weekends in Teston. The festival in August this year is
apparently going ahead, with the organiser expecting to make a loss
on the deal. There now seems to be an on-line ad-hoc campaign being
launched to support a possible festival in June. A year ago I would
have been one of the leading lights in keeping this festival going.
Five months ago I was on the point of taking on the organisation of
the event. But what do I think now?
The financial outlay
required for the event is unclear (to say the least). It's
certain that Kent County Council want a fee for the use of the field.
However the required cost varies between two hundred and fifty quid
and five hundred quid depending on which person you speak to. (And
this is from people "in the know", not just random
guesses). But what do we get for that fee? Absolutely nothing! I
would have thought that having paid for hiring a field we would be
given exclusive use of it. But this is not the case. The "normal
people" still get to use the site as they do at any other
weekend. We get to pay money to be in the same field which the
general public are using for free. It's just a nice little earner for
the council.
The apparent cost of the
public liability insurance varies between two hundred and fifty quid
and five hundred quid depending on which person you speak to. I was
personally quoted nearly five hundred quid from a specialist
insurance agency. A local kite club insist they have been quoted far
cheaper for the same cover. And what liability is there anyway? Any
kite-caused damage is covered by the flier's personal household
liability. I can't see how anyone can be held liable for anything
that the general public get up to as the council have said that the
public can be there anyway. If they hurt themselves then their issue
must be with the council like it would be at any other weekend.
First aiders want a
couple of hundred quid just to turn up. Hiring first aiders a
prerequisite for hiring the field. First aiders! I don't want any
first aider anywhere near me or anyone I hold dear - I know the
damage they can do. I've left written instructions for first aiders
not to be allowed near my children in the past. If a plaster can't
fix the injury, there is a hospital not five minutes up the road. I
don't doubt that there are some first aiders who do sterling jobs.
However the ones of my experience are those who watch "Casualty"
on the telly, believe it, and get silly ideas from it. But first
aiders are compulsory, and are another drain on the limited finances.
(Stops and takes a
breath. Teston kite festival has always been one of the high points
of my year. This rant is all rather negative...)
So we are now in the
position that what was once free is now costing about a thousand
pounds. And having shelled out all this money what do we get? Most
kite festivals take place in designated areas as "kite
festivals".
That's what they are. You
go there for the kites.
The events at Teston are
very different. They are weekends of trying to fly kites in a picnic
site where many people are very accustomed to having picnics, walking
dogs, playing football, and generally doing their own thing every
weekend. It's made quite clear by these people that the kites are
very much in their way. The swarms of normal people do not like
having the kiters around. I've had my tent ripped open in the past by
the locals, and other friends have had children's bikes stolen.
The consensus of everyone
I've spoken with is that the Teston weekend is good from when we set
up our camp on the Thursday until the Saturday morning when the
swarms arrive. We then wait for the swarms to go home before we then
enjoy the evening, and then they come back again on the Sunday
morning to spoil it. Sunday evening is good, and we then pack up and
go home on Monday morning
However it would seem
that there is a feeling from the establishment that camping is to be
curtailed. We can only camp from the Friday until (possibly) the
Sunday evening. We get to lose the bit we actually enjoy. And talking
of the camping brings me on to something which boils my piss. Every
year on the Sunday morning a collection is made from the campers to
contribute to any expenses of the event. In the past I've bunged in
ten or twenty quid, and others camping with us have done the same. On
the basis of this I would expect the collection to raise in the
region of two to three hundred quid. It (apparently) raises less than
one hundred quid. What's that all about?
And now to add insult to
injury the consensus view is that future Teston weekends will be
largely financed by stinging those who camp. The implication has been
made that we should pay our way. I rather resent that implication.
We've been paying our way all along. If the event is paying the
council for the hire of the field, then the cost of the event should
be passed on to anyone using the field for that weekend. Charge a
camping fee by all means, but surely it makes sense to charge an
admission fee to anyone at the kite festival as well?
It has been suggested
that traders and caterers be invited and charged for their pitches to
offset the costs. Leaving aside the fact that the council have said
they won't allow caterers, we've had traders in the past. They don't
make enough money to make it with their while to turn up.
We've been told that we
may lose the Teston kite festivals. Much as I've enjoyed them over
the years, I'm not feeling as positive about the idea as I might be.
Regular readers of this drivel may recall my witterings from last
June when the planned Teston weekend was cancelled and a group of us
did our own thing. We went camping on private land which cost one
thousand pounds less than a weekend at Teston would have cost, and we
were away from the normal people.
Everyone who went to this
alternative event enjoyed it immensely. Personally I'm wondering if I
wouldn't rather do my own thing again.
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