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Scalloway Fire Festival


Colin
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... not very widely supported.
... a very well supported desicion.

Hmmm... :?:

 

Either way, would a postponement not be in order rather than a cancellation?

 

It is my understanding that a postponement was proposed but there were even objections to that and that the vote was split. In my opinion, a split vote does not constitute "very well supported".

 

As for it (the cancellation) being a (not) well supported decision?

It might have passed at last nights meeting but, what about the credibility and damage to it's reputation of the Fire Festival itself?

What about all the disappointed people who have purchased tickets?

What about the squad members who were not consulted?

What about the people who have made expensive travel arrangements to get here for it?

What about the inconvenience (not to mention the embarassment and damage to reputation) to the Halls and other venues who have to issue refunds against sold tickets, cancel entertainment, and cancel food & drink orders?.

 

It is a pity that the Halls and other venues were not officially invited to attend the meeting given that the decision has had such momentous implications for them.

It seems to me that the Fire festival might have forgotton about all the hard work that these venues put in to make the event a success (it certainly depends their goodwill and co-operation) and that, in order to ensure that this cannot happen again, a constitutional mechanism should be put in place at the earliest opportunity.

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^^

In both Brae and Northmavine, the up helly aa has been cancelled over the years. The decision to do so was taken by the local up helly aa committees and was greatly supported and respected by the local halls and the communities. It was the right thing to do and UHA still continues to go from strength to strength.

 

Some things in life - like the health and wellbeing of folk in our communities - are just more important than a P*** up.

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Between bands, hall bookings and having to apply for liscences a long time in advance(i think a couple of months) that was voted against. That was a close vote though, not having it next Friday was unanimous.

 

It is my understanding that the decision had nothing to do with licences.

Scalloway Hall would have been made available for the dates suggested and the indication from others at the meeting who are also involved with other venues were positive.

Availability of bands, at the time of the meeting, was an unknown quantity that could have been resolved with a little effort.

Bar Licences were not an issue.

All the venues have licences until 1am and an occasional licence for a further extension can be obtained with 10 days.

Tickets already purchased could have remained valid.

The police could have been notified of the changed date.

Lastly, the vote for cancellation was not unanimous as at least one person declared an interest and one other abstained.

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looking on the fair isle's weather today and the weather is not looking good for the weekend to. scalloway never gets good weather for the festival. I remember two or three years ago the festival was canceled when thay had a meeting that day if it was to go ahead but by 7:00 the wind and rain died down. Its a shame to cancel the festival

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^^

In both Brae and Northmavine, the up helly aa has been cancelled over the years. The decision to do so was taken by the local up helly aa committees and was greatly supported and respected by the local halls and the communities. It was the right thing to do and UHA still continues to go from strength to strength.

 

Scalloway Hall DOES in fact support the right of Scalloway Fire Festival to make any decision it sees fit BUT, reserves the right to question wisdom given the circumstances.

 

Some things in life - like the health and wellbeing of folk in our communities - are just more important than a P*** up.

 

Brae and Northmavine Fire Festivals might be just a p**** up but, Scalloway has long since passed that stage. :lol:

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looking on the fair isle's weather today and the weather is not looking good for the weekend to. scalloway never gets good weather for the festival. I remember two or three years ago the festival was canceled when thay had a meeting that day if it was to go ahead but by 7:00 the wind and rain died down. Its a shame to cancel the festival

 

Selective memory or what :wink:

 

In fact, most years the weather is OK.

Scalloway Fire Festival has never (until now) been cancelled. The Procession & Burning have been postponed occasionally due to weather and safety concerns.

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In both Brae and Northmavine, the up helly aa has been cancelled over the years. The decision to do so was taken by the local up helly aa committees and was greatly supported and respected by the local halls and the communities. It was the right thing to do and UHA still continues to go from strength to strength.

In such situations where something tragic suddenly occurs close to a celebratory event it makes sense to cancel. When a small community is not in the mood, it is pointless going through the motions.

 

My feeling that postponement might have been more appropriate for the Scalloway event lay in the reason provided being somewhat more positive sounding, namely the kid being on the mend. Even a couple of months would be OK, it will still be dark.

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Well said EM. You summed up the feelings of almost everyone i have spoken to. Colin's input to this post is highly insensitive, innaccurate and offensive.

 

To combat but one of his many tedious points, the one about people paying to travel here, a jarl squad member was travelling over from Alaska to partake. He is still coming over, but refused to go out if the jarl couldn't. Some things come before a public hall's takings.

 

All squads were at the meeting, so they had a chance to talk to all their members and gauge opinion. I also think that we have not indeed evolved beyond a p**s up, common sense and decency comes first.

 

Also You can't compare Scalloway Fire Festival to the Lerwick UHA, much smaller community.

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