Charities Strawberry Social
This month we welcome guest columnist, Simon Welsh. He's here to tell us all about the To Wong Foo inspired Strawberry Social - a special summer event which occurs in the fair sea side, St Christopher's city of Brighton.
- The Grand Plan
- The Line Up
- Times, Grinds and Places
The Grand Plan
Over the past six years the Strawberry Social has turned from a house party, extending invitations to 30 people, to an extravaganza, held in a public venue, with its doors now open to over 600 party going, fundraisers. The Strawberry Social, however, is far more than just a party. It has objectives too!
1. To bring together different forms of creative expression and from them build one of the most exciting, interactive and provocative events the world has ever seen.
2. To send all profits via the Charity Build Africa, to Kenya and here, help with the building of a primary school. Over the last 18 months the Strawberry Social has donated £6750 to Build Africa but rather than thousands, we'd like to be raising hundreds of thousands.
The Line Up
Live bands, break beat, house DJs, Video Jockeys, buskers, graffiti artists, circus performers, BBQ gurus, wizards and witches, holistic experts, comedians and a plethora of other performers create their performances for the audio, visual and consumable pleasure of guests. These performances stretch all the way from the stage, through to the congregational areas of the venue so you never know whether the person standing next to you is a fellow guest or a performer on the brink of a creative outburst.
You can have your nails painted, your hair cut and styled, your shoulders massaged or your feet rubbed at a Strawberry Social. You can buy an ashtray made from an old soft drink can, purchase a beautiful vase - created from a melted down LP or invest in a Velcro-lock wallet, constructed from an old juice carton. You can taste the cuisines of the Orient, learn your future, uncover the mysteries of your birthday, dance, get drunk, paint pictures and write letters to the children in Kenya - with your own little ones safely tucked away in the Creché provided. Better yet you can dip various fruit pieces, including Strawberries, into a waterfall of rich, dark, dripping chocolate. If none of these tickle your fancy you can always drink a Smoothie from Brighton's own Guarana Bar or simply stand on the periphery and indulge in a spot of people watching.
Times, Grinds and Places
The event usually starts at 2pm and goes right the way thorough the afternoon into the early hours of the next morning. At around 8pm the mood changes, families depart, bands retire and the DJ's plunge the delighted audience into the dark and dirty world of contemporary beats.
Whether you like to bump and grind, wiggle, gyrate, or simply bounce up and down, the ripples that emanate from the DJ booth will sweep through you and the crowd, froth you up into a swell and then induce further frenzy with heavier beats. You may well be exhausted by the energetic, alcoholic, nicotine fuelled excess but after one Strawberry Social, I know you'll be coming back for more. Everyone does!
The next event is all set for May 2009, so to sort out your participation and donation at this sun lit, south coast social, take a little trip to the website.
- Simon
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