So it happened, the event. I could not believe how many people came and got involved. I’m overwhelmed by the participation from both the audience and the partners who came to showcase their work.
Saturday:
After the nerve-racking ordeal of introducing Fun Palace to a packed bar the evening launched, the Cube Orchestra took centre stage and blasted everyone’s socks off. This is when I took control of the debate station with my sidekick Mark. It went down so well – much better than I could have imagined. Everyone wanted to get involved in debating visions of the future.
UV ping-pong was a massive success and although a lot of the décor suffered a few set backs, I think what we delivered was enough to set a space themed environment in the Watershed.
I was massively impressed with BFI guys launching their film season. The telescope on the bar was an excellent idea and fitted in with Fun Palace perfectly. The very talented Memotone, who did a special sci-fi themed set, brought Fun Palace’s first night to a close. Looking at the faces at the bar it was clear we had managed to succeed with our aim to bring in a new audience.
Day two began with a lot of setting up to do; this was our more technology heavy day. All the partners arrived and we all got stuck in decorating and setting up the café, conferences rooms and make station. I spent a lot of time building cardboard boxes to help create Alex Latham abandon moon base for his game Gorb the Cyborg. This was a game I really wanted to run at Fun Palace – I felt it needed a physical gaming aspect. Before the event we were unsure how successful the game would be, but I’m pleased to report it went down amazingly well. We ran four games with 3 to 5 people playing each one, the game filled up and we received a diverse audience aged between 7 and 50+. And the best part? No one got injured! Part of wanting to run this game was to try and engage a variety of audience in the world of play and imagination. This is one of my own personal goals. I feel we succeeded in this, part of the focus being on pushing the barriers and not being too scared to try. The team work, smiles and enthusiasm on peoples faces as they attempted to solve the clues and win the game was priceless.
For more information on Alex Latham and his urban games: https://www.facebook.com/bristolurbangames
The weekend felt like such a success and it’s a wonderful feeling to have been involved in producing it. It tackled a lot of personal goals and gave me a great opportunity to work with the community.
