The Burning Of The Clocks Brighton 21st December 2012

After spending the last 2 years wanting to attend The Burning of The Clocks (first time it was cancelled due to heavy rain and second time I was in hibernation mode and didnt make it out of the house !) I finally got my chance on possibly the most talked about and speculated about date in modern times. For those who arent in the know, the Burning of the Clocks Celebrations started in 1993 and have been described as an antidote to the excesses of the commercial Xmas.  The celebration is based on a procession of lantern and costumes made from withies (willow canes) and white tissue paper with a carnival atmosphere. The procession makes its way through the centre of Brighton to the seafront where the climax of the event is the lantern bonfire accompanied by fireworks.  Many costumes have a clock face or time theme, and heading up the procession this year where a number of wonderfully creative dandelion clocks. The willow lanterns are burned on the beach as a token of the end of the year.

My friends and I managed to get prime postition right by the beach on Madeira Drive which is where the parade finally comes to a rest before going to the burning ceremony on the beach. What we didnt realise was we werent best placed to see the fantastic poi fire display delivered by Poi Passion of to which several of my friends belong and with whom I started poi training with earlier this year. However I was able to suss out the optimum spectating position for next year but I wont tell you where in case you all beat me to it 😉

As we made our way down to the beach my friend Penny and I saw that the moon was very interestingly shaped (almost like a fat letter D) and beneath it was a cloud which formed the number 7. The atmosphere was, dare I say magickal.

It is hard to judge how many people where there but in the past numbers over 20,000 have been quoted and as most of the large events hosted in Brighton (Gay Pride and the infamous Zombie Walk for example) no ‘incidents’ to my knowlege have ever been reported.

The atmosphere was very happy and relaxed and there was a real sense of love and unity (other large cities and gatherings could learn a lot from a trip to ‘London by Sea’ 😉

The procession itself was amazing. I cannot hazard a guess at how many took part in it and have added some videos I found on youtube to illustrate this blog to give non attendees a flavour of the evening.

The costumes where breathtaking, from stilt walkers to life sized paper animated puppets, drumming pirates and tiny children dressed like clocks, peoples wildest dreams and imagination come to life.

It is astonishing to think that not so many years ago any kind of ‘non mainstream’ beliefs where shoved underground and that the Burning of the Clocks is now very much part of the Brighton yearly calendar, a real step forward for mankind in my humble opinion !

So if you find yourself in Brighton this time next year, you are fed up of Xmas before it has even started (usually around September time!!) and fancy something a bit different and completely free, COME ON DOWN !! 😀

I hope you enjoy the following videos, of course the only thing I cant capture is the atmosphere itself but it was for me, truly and evening to remember !

FIRST UP, POI PASSION !

THE PROCESSION !

POST PROCESSION FIREWORKS