Kenyon
26-12-2008, 03:27 PM
Last year, along with Shahin enthusiast Jan Kool and his family, I had the pleasure of attending the 1st International Falconry Festival in Reading, put on by the Falconry Heritage Trust and other parties, including a number of falconers from the UAE. Despite the rain, it was a very good event, and we managed to get some press, including the Times and the New Internationalist, both with colour photos. It was hard to get press to the 1st one, especially with the heavy downpour. This coming one, however, the word is out, and already there is journalistic interest.
And well there should be, this festival attracts falconers from dozens of lands, and many come in native costume. I did myself come attired in native costume, well, jeans and a T shirt... but many who came from more distant corners of the globe graced the event with much greater sartorial eloquence, some in royal court attire, others in Central Asian hunting garb.
Housed in yurts, tents, and, of course, Range Rovers, the various members of the falconry community looked like a United Nations gathering. I met Chinese, Polish, Mexican, San Salvadorean, Arab, Kazakh, Turkmen, and French falconers there, and the representatives from Latin America decided to come with me and see more of London the next day - which was spent running around Soho, the South Bank and Chiswick; all more or less on the Piccadilly Line, so they were never more than an hour east of Heathrow.
And the festival itself was less than an hour's drive west of that hub, it is in Reading off the M4. This year it will take place on 11/12 July. The weekend before Christmas I spent with Dr. Jevgeni Shergalin, who is Dr. Nick Fox's assistant. He is already deep into planning this event, coordinating with delegates from about 50 countries who are set to attend this 2nd festival.
So this second festival promises to be quite a knees-up, I hope to see lots of you there, in whatever attire and domicile you wish to show up in! For more info, check it out at www.falconryfestival.com (http://www.falconryfestival.com) or email info@falconryfestival.com (http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/info@falconryfestival.com)
And well there should be, this festival attracts falconers from dozens of lands, and many come in native costume. I did myself come attired in native costume, well, jeans and a T shirt... but many who came from more distant corners of the globe graced the event with much greater sartorial eloquence, some in royal court attire, others in Central Asian hunting garb.
Housed in yurts, tents, and, of course, Range Rovers, the various members of the falconry community looked like a United Nations gathering. I met Chinese, Polish, Mexican, San Salvadorean, Arab, Kazakh, Turkmen, and French falconers there, and the representatives from Latin America decided to come with me and see more of London the next day - which was spent running around Soho, the South Bank and Chiswick; all more or less on the Piccadilly Line, so they were never more than an hour east of Heathrow.
And the festival itself was less than an hour's drive west of that hub, it is in Reading off the M4. This year it will take place on 11/12 July. The weekend before Christmas I spent with Dr. Jevgeni Shergalin, who is Dr. Nick Fox's assistant. He is already deep into planning this event, coordinating with delegates from about 50 countries who are set to attend this 2nd festival.
So this second festival promises to be quite a knees-up, I hope to see lots of you there, in whatever attire and domicile you wish to show up in! For more info, check it out at www.falconryfestival.com (http://www.falconryfestival.com) or email info@falconryfestival.com (http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/info@falconryfestival.com)