Barefoot in the Park 2012 is TOMORROW!

And lo and behold the weather should be mostly dry, there might even be some sunny spells! Don’t forget to bring your wellies though as the grass will probably be muddy! Of course we’ve got a lovely big marquee to keep us safe from the elements whatever the weather may bring, and the spirit of poetry (as well as the hot food and drinks of course) will keep us cozy and warm!

Oh and we’ll supply some tarpaulins etc but if you want something soft to sit on bring blankets and cushions!!!!

Do bring a good coat though. In the words of the illustrious Alaric Hall: ‘undergrads never bring enough clothes’.

It’s the full lineup!

12.00 start + welcome
12.15 David Tait
12.40 Hannah Copley
13.00 Creative Writing Showcase
14.00 Singer/songwriters: Matt and Georgie, Josh Pewter, and Matt Hutson
14.35 Paul Maddern
15.00 Simon Rennie
15.20 Garnets (band)
15.45 Spoken Word Showcase: Darwin Jr Turton, Hannah Townsend, Oliver Duggan, Henry Raby, and Vicky Ellis
16.45 Suzannah Evans
17.10 Wes Brown
17.30 Folk Soc collective
18.00 Poetry Competition results (read out winning poem and runners-up)
18.20 Ian Harker
18.45 Helen Mort
19.05 Time, Gentlemen (band)

Amazing!!!

Have a look at some of the posts below, written by this year’s wonderful team, about the various fundraisers we’ve held to get the money together to run this year’s Barefoot in the Park Poetry Festival!

Apart from the fundraisers, we’ve been attending loads of fantastic poetry readings to get the best line-up! So far we have a great variety of people, including David Tait, Suzannah Evans, Helen Mort, Wes Brown, Paul Maddern and MORE!

There’s still time to enter our Poetry Competition, the deadline is the 16th of April, so get in there fast! More details at Poetry Competition.

The second Barefoot in the Park Fundraiser in the Pub- what a night! The open mic was hailed by all as a magnificent event, with loud and ready cries for a repeat! Yet how to account for the astounding success of that drizzly evening in February?!

Yes we raised an impressive amount of money, and indeed it is true that there was fantastic talent up on the stage, and of course a lot of fun was had by all, but for me, the undeniable highlight of the evening was the proud unveiling of the Barefoot in the Park Banner! After hours of carefully cutting, stitching, sticking, an abundance of pricked fingers and sore knees, the Barefoot team were able to look on with delight at the banner  hanging (albeit a bit wonky) behind the stage. The sight filled us ‘Barefooters’ with pride as we looked forward to the actual day of the festival when the banner will be flying high, announcing to all that: we are the Barefooters and we made this happen! And even if we fail our degrees, we now know our career fall-back can be in banner making.

Banner aside, there were many other successes. Not only did we raise a staggering £300 to go towards the organisation of the festival, but the 100+ attendance shows that we got some good publicity – helped by everyone being stamped by Hannah’s foot shaped pen. It was truly astounding how talented many of the performers were, including some of our own who got up on stage.

The event helped immensely; we raised loads more money and now we are all even more excited for the real thing! After a few hiccups early in the year with marquee problems, and hold-ups with the Leeds City Council, the success of the fundraiser proved that WE CAN DO IT!

The first Barefoot in the Pub was looming. Panic was slowly setting in. All we could do was hope that those who said they’d come would – and bring their friends. After fear that no one would want to share their talents with words, more and more people began signing up to perform. We were going to have a great variety of acts, from poetry and spoken word, to singer/songwriters and even some comedy! Things were coming together. The room was slowly filling, making our dream of Barefoot in the Park seem all the more achievable.

But no, there was no mic stand! How were some of our wonderful singer/songwriters going to juggle their guitars and the microphone up on stage? Of course, something had to go wrong. Things were running too smoothly! After a mad dash around the local pubs in search of a mic stand, we struck gold at the Royal Park pub. Finally, the night could really begin. 

Once underway, everything ran pretty smoothly. The small, dark room downstairs at the Hyde Park Social Club is a brilliant venue for this sort of night. People teetered on the edge of sofas and squeezed in next to each other on the floor, all in fight for the best view of the talented guests we had that evening. There were some brilliant performers: funny poetry, serious poetry, melancholic and joyous songs all went down a storm, and by the end of the night everyone was raving about the high quality of the acts and  demanding another installment. 

The night was a success, not only for the money raised and the exposure of what we are trying to put together, but for the confidence it gave us, that we really are capable of putting together a pretty good show! Bring on Barefoot in the Park!

Could there be a better way to fundraise than selling Krispy Kremes? After filling out a form and ordering the doughnuts online, two sleepy-eyed Barefoot members drove early in the morning to pick up the treats and wrap them individually in sandwich bags; a task more arduous than finding a lecture theatre in Roger Stevens! Once done, the stall was set up in the Union near the help-desk. White balloons, doughnut boxes and the trade-mark ‘Krispy Kreme’ hats adorned the table as the time came for the selling to begin! Having tempted a few tired students shuffling to the Refectory and some curious help-desk staff, the numbers soon rose as the day went on (with some help from the hungry doughnut sellers of course).
The tempting calls to passers-by and the brilliant business skills from the team attracted groups around the stall as hats and ‘doughnuts for a pound’ were given to all! The dream of Barefoot in the Park seemed all the more real.
After a businessman bought a box for his lunch and some straggling lecture-goers tried the treats the last few boxes were emptied and the sellers heaved a sigh of relief. The whole day was a success! The money was added to the funds and all the doughnut boxes were cleared away; showing that even at the smallest fundraiser or at the final event in April, there is nothing that we will not be able to achieve!

Fundraisers are essential in order to walk those first proverbial steps towards an independent festival. That’s why, on a chilly winter night in November, you would have found us crammed into Leeds University’s Old Bar. Hosted by us and promoted via the English Society, we organised a light-hearted (but nevertheless competitive!) pub quiz. Questions ranged from general knowledge to ones with a more relevant theme – poetry!
After a few struggles along the way – finding ways for everyone to hear quizmaster Charlie proved to be a challenge – the quiz turned out a big success. Issy’s homemade cake was delicious and everyone had a lot of fun. Perhaps more importantly for us, we made a handsome total of £63. Every penny we raise is fantastic and the event has given us confidence that future fundraising will be successful too!

Slap bang in the middle of Hyde Park (or Woodhouse Moor to those in the know, next to the Bowls Pavilion) we’ll be soaking up the sun (and it WILL be sunny) to the tune of blissful poetry and heavenly music. You can expect sessions from a host of fantastic performers, like Suzannah Evans, David Tait and Paul Maddern, with many more to be announced!

Apart from the wonderful poets and spoken word artists, there will be musical interludes, yummy food, beautiful vintage clothing, crafts, and an art exhibition. Bear with us while we update the website (web design unfortunately is not our forte), and watch this space for more info soon!

The cakes are ready (still drooling from storing them this evening), the generator is here, drums are rolling, and the clouds WILL NOT bother us.

Also, here’s a sneak peek at what tomorrow will entail, from BBC Radio Leeds this morning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00h1kjl

[From 0.32.50]

(If the link does not work, try http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/programmes/schedules/2011/06/04, and click on the Bob Walmsley programme.)

We’re coming, people.

The feet are being bared..

See you all tomorrow!

The Barefooters

Just to let you know that the deadline for our poetry&prose competition has been extended till Friday, so get submitting for a chance to be published on the website of renowned poetry magazine The Stand (International FAME!), and for free poetry coaching with the lovely people at Cadaverine!

Also, please note that your ticket gives you unlimited entry!
So you can come and go as you want throughout the day. Go on, you know you want to…

Don’t forget to invite all your friends, tag the event in your Facebook status, tweet about it, tell your carrier pigeons, shout it off the rooftops, and just let as many people as possible know about this amazing day of poetry, prose and music!

Love,

the Barefooters