Time to pack up.

For anyone going to a canal festival, they only ever see the glamourous side with the festivities running like clockwork, but for those who help to set the festivals up all over the country, they know how hard it is to actually get things up and running. It is not a matter of just putting up a few stalls, organising the boats and the music. The organising for each event takes months to sort out. Not only do they have to organise the site, they have to talk to lots of different departments, which include the Health and Safety and Enviromental Health departments. This past week Keith and I have learnt a lot about how much effort is put into organishing an event this big. Today we also learnt how difficult it is to pack it all away. There is a lot of waiting around to be done as well, such as waiting for the trucks to come and take the porta loos away and the fencing people. It is not an easy job, but we have had the most wonderful time. Today it all began early with us joining the other volunteers from the Waterways Recovery Group. They had already taken down the stalls, the banners had to come down, as did the marques for the beer tent and food stalls. The beer tent by the way sold out completely of beer and cider. I helped to pick up litter, as the area has to be all neat and tidy, which would be checked by the local council. When the porta loos firm turned up, I donned a high visability coat and offered to stand in the road, whilst the company pumped out the porta loos, (Oh the glamour of it all). They then took the loos away. Standing in the middle of a busy road is not to be done by the faint hearted. One four wheel car driver, came around the sharp bend and got very close whilst talking on his mobile phone (Shame on him). Our long day ended with a fish and chip supper and a couple of glasses of wine with the group to wind down after a long and busy day. Keith and I have met a wonderful bunch of people, which included Karen and Gary on NB Fox, Dave and Maria on NB Daisybob, Bob on NB Glenfield, Sarah, Sammy, Mike, Christine and the other volunteers who made it a excellent weekend for us and everyone, who visited the Little Venice Cavalcade. having seen it from both sides, I would say that the next time you go to one of these events with your boat or on foot and complain about something, just spare a thought for those who have worked hard behind the scenes to put the event on. Bare in mind that they do it completely unpaid and why not actually volunteer your services, even if it is just for one day. You will certainly see the less glamourous side. If any from the Waterways Recovery Group is reading this. Thank you so much for making us feel very welcome and for all your hard work. See you another year we hope.