Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
bee bishop on her blog
The build up to this event has been incredible and I’ve watched, talked and twitfaced excitedly in the months, weeks, days and hours leading up to it.
As if seeing Wayne McGregor Random Dance, Pan OPTIKUM and Scanner perform together on the glittery sands of Margate beach wasn’t enough, the marketing was spot on, the suitably secretive relaying of information created just the right kind of anticipation.
But I should’ve known when I huddled under the Marine Drive viewing area with a take away Chinese that it wasn’t quite the best start to the evening. I hadn’t planned to spend my special fried rice moment alongside a teenager who accompanied my meal with the sound, smell and sight of projectile chundering. He clearly hadn’t had the foresight to devour a delicious gourmet meal beforehand like I was doing. Sick spring roll anyone?
“Onward and upward” I thought. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate – the streets were chocka, and I mean chocka, with people. Never have I seen such a swarm of eager bodies in Margate, not even for the opening of TC. This is going to be good.
9.10pm: Where to stand?
CLOCKTOWER! My fellow Blinkers and I seemed to have the same idea however as everyone else, at exactly the same time – who would’ve thought this spectacular event would inspire neuro-collision as well?! We’d already started the performance with some serious dilly dally prancing to find a suitable spot! I, luckily, was next to a loud-speaking local who peppered my evening with commentary. Thank goodness, as I clearly couldn’t work out that it was a busy evening and that we didn’t know what to expect.
9.15pm (the exact time the event was publicised to start): niente. Hmmpf. *Quick head turn, onto tiptoes*. Nope nothing.
9.20pm:
“Well, if you’re going to publicise an event at precisely 9.15pm, you really should ensure it starts on time” I thought. *Quick shake of head to see if anything was happening (and to rid the remaining sicky smell from my nostrils)*
9.23pm: ”Hang on, what’s keeps bobbing up and down in front of those people 10 rows in front of me?”
9.24pm: “Oh, it has started” 
9.25pm: “‘ERE THERE ARE DANCERS OVER THERE, THERE ARE” said the delightful man next to me. Thanks Murray Walker, not sure I quite heard that. Hmmpf.
And this was my problem, I abstained for blinking for as long as possible (my eyelids are still sore) so as not to miss anything, but it seems that I did anyway.
Having seen Wayne McGregor Random Dance the night before at the gallery and knowing that the event organisers had recruited local young people to dance (a brilliant initiative which deserves a lot of praise), I knew that the performance would be mind-blowing. I just couldn’t see it. And unfortunately neither could anyone around me. I was surprised not to see big screens along the seafront and on the techy podiums so that the many thousands (and there were thousands – 30k they’ve estimated) could all enjoy the performance. Or perhaps raise the stage. So I settled to watch the rather beautiful projections on the Flamingo amusement arcade which were truly wonderful.
9.30pm: Little deflated, a twitchiness was spreading through the crowd and starting to linger. “Please get better, I’m sure it’s fab I just can’t see it”
9.31pm: Applause. Phew, well at least those people at the front enjoyed it.
9.32pm: Hang on what’s that?
9.32pm: Dancers in massive guinea-pig style balls crowd surf zorb styley along the beach. FIRE! Burning ring of fire! (No, not Johnny Cash or the after effects of curry, I had a Chinese remember). And dancers, on big stilty moving poles…. and look free running across white cubes. Could they be miniature versions of the gallery’s iconic cube shapes (hope not, but seems they are)?
“Wowsa, now we’re talking”.
9.33pm: Entranced
9.35pm: Freerunning on the tops of the cubes, the crowd have a beach zorb ball bounceathon, and then…
9.36pm: Shooting flame of fire in the sky!
9.36.5pm: Stilty pole performers (Pan OPTIKUM) twizzle and turn back and forth with fireworks shooting out their behinds.
9.37pm: Murray Walker “I just don’t gettit”
9.38pm – 10ish pm: Margate is transformed and a truly spectacular event gets underway lighting up the night sky with pyrotechnic wonders, massively talented performers, bold newcomers to dance and a crowd that cheers whoops and applauds, hoping it doesn’t end.
It got off to a quiet, subtle start but by golly, it really was a great night. Once it got going, BLINK sure did engulf every second with fabulous entertainment.
And to my friend Murray Walker, I’d like to share a little something with you – in my humblest opinion, sometimes, it really doesn’t matter about ‘getting’ something, it’s about the act of enjoying, witnessing and being a part of something. And something BIG.
To the 30,000 BLINKers that came on Saturday night, if you were a little disappointed you couldn’t see it all like me, just remember (as I have reminded myself) that you were there at all. And that a little while ago something like this never would have come to Margate, and the Arts Council and the partners may not have realised what an important project it was. But it did come this weekend and something extraordinary happened at the same time – 29,999 people shared the experience with you.
I didn’t BLINK and miss it, I blinkin’ loved it! And a huge congrats goes to the team who organised and performed it. Sure, there are a few things that could be improved, but I’m just looking forward to what’s going to happen next year… and everything in between. Margate wasn’t just bloomin’ marvellous this bank holiday, it was BLINKin’ marvellous – even in the company of Murray Walker and with the smell of sick wafting around my nostrils.
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You say 30k people….. other sources say 15k…… im very wary of those figures……
Id love to see the breakdown of the apparent £350k this cost……. and as all involved were volunteers.
Money which could have been spent bettr elsewhere in these trying times….
I myself attended and didnt think alot of the whole show, probably on the same parr as Broadstairs firewaorks show….. but then thats just my personal opinion.
I didnt attend as i was working, but your thoughts were similar to what i had heard from other sources, naff start but good end. However, 350 grand for fireworks and a circus? mainly staffed by volounteers? that could have been funded with 35 Grand! its great that things are happening in Margate, but people are ripping the arse out of putting things on here, the people on the arts council have CLEARLY pocketed a HUGE was of capital here and its not right. The policing at the event was highly under quota as each officer for an event costs close to a thousand pounds, my workings out is that there should have been close to 100 officers at least to meet legal requirements of an outdoor event… this was not the case i’m informed, and the security staff consisted of a few SIA badged guards and a big bunch of volounteers. Again, i’m not knocking the volounteers cause its good people want to be involved, but it shows the minimal cost of this event. Some of the dancers (again, good for them!) were volounteers also so… 350 grand????
Yea i wasnt there and i’m basing all of my judgement on hearsay and past shady dealings of thanet council, arts council, margate town partnership and other groups interlinked with the hierachy of this town whom have more than a slight financial interest in these events.
This has to stop, literally that was crazy money, with that money we could have had so many events like blink in margate, but it is being syphoned by the powers that be.
Final word, That did NOT cost 350 thousand pounds… so where’s the money?
Blink… my wallet’s gone?
just adding…
THIS http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27811678.html
is 350 thousand pounds!
catch my drift?
It was a little hype over substance. It would be interesting to find out the true cost of the event – I’ve heard £130k. The fireworks/floating dancers part was truly beautiful and a real treat. Didn’t see the “100″ dancers – were they all there? Didn’t see the town all lit up – 1 building and the clock tower. Also 30k felt more like 15k – and the atmosphere was interesting with all the security and policing. Didnt’ feel like a family friendly event. Information not very good about event on the day – eg road closures etc.
Its very welcome to bring in international talent and put on brilliant events – however, this show was so hyped up – BA Flight Mag, The Independent’s What to Do this Weekend section amongst any – and didn’t deliver to its expectations.
We are a little more sophisticated in this area that we are given credit for!
When is someone going to pull the plug on the Arts Council and stop it wasting millions of pounds of our taxes on nonsense like this? I can’t decide, “Bee”, whether your blog is meant to be ironic. If you really think it was worth being puked over and seeing nothing just as long as you “were there”, I can only assume you are involved in some way in the cruel and expensive deception that is Margate’s current art mania
£350 000 that is outrageous. I too would like to see where that kind of money was spent. Someone has got to take control of these outrageous sums of money being wasted like this. I dont think anyone questions the amount, and they should do. I would like to see the person responsible for counting the audience too, as all the figures that get banded about are worthless and made-up. They are quoted to warrant the events taking place. I have been involved in Entertainment for over 25 years, and have never seen such a huge amount wasted in such a way. I should think the people who were hired are on their way to the Bahamas now, laughing all the way. I hope tenders were put in for this event, as I am sure hundreds of companies could put on a similar event for thousands less. Its also strange how all these free events attract people, while at the same time affecting valid entertainment businesses trying to make a living, including the Winter Gardens. I am sure they would welcome £350 000!
Emperor’s Clothes springs to mind
Hi all
Thanks for your comments. I don’t know the exact cost of the event, so can’t comment on that I’m afraid. I didn’t get puked on thankfully, the guy was next to me (grim nonetheless but if he had I would have hotstepped back home and not thought twice about missing the event!), However, what my personal feeling was that despite being intitially underwhelmed it turned out to be a good event. And it’s great to see that things are happening in Margate and that a big organisation like the Arts Council would even consider funding an event here. And everything’s a learning curve. For all those businesses that stayed open late, I’m sure they were able to benefit from the hoards of people who came to the town. Be great to hear how the night, and subsequent weekend was for them. Without these kinds of events and inititiatives happening, I can’t quite imagine the crowds would flock like they did on Saturday…
agree with u bee. absolutely stunning firework show and i’m sure we would have enjoyed the dancing if we had been able to see anything (we were on the beach more towards the firework end). so glad we stayed – were tempted to leave early (holding 2 little ones up to try to see something got a little tiring), but was well worth the wait. and 15,000 or 30,000 – what does it matter? there were more people than i have ever seen in margate in my life and i’m so pleased it got the support it deserved!
The street lights were off making the going difficult and potentially dangerous, the streets were full of those who were clearly thoroughly below stairs and the display itself was largely a showy but pretentious distraction, a vapid spectacle. Overall the evening would have been better suited to someone who wished to evaluate quite how far spoken English had degraded, it reminded me of the mangled English outlined in the famous scene with Professor Henry Higgins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAYUuspQ6BY
Well, thanks to Henry Higgins for that last comment. Not sure that the purpose of Blink was to improve the standard of spoken English in the town. Possibly they’re thinking of doing a follow-up called ‘Grunt’?
We’ve approached the Arts Council to get some clarification on the overall cost of the event. There is quite a wide range of figures being quoted and clearly they can’t all be right.
But – surely the point of the whole event was not its cost but the income it generates? In simplistic terms, if 15000 people came to Margate and spent a tenner (on spring rolls or whatever) then that stimulates the local economy. If 1000 of those people came from outside the area and spent £100 each on food, accommodation and whatever else, then that’s an even greater stimulus.
I don’t think that James Mason’s suggestion above of buying a 4 bed detached house would provide quite the same economic boost. Particularly as the house he’s identified is in Ashford. But nice idea James.
An event like this is not just a cost. It brings in money, both in the short-term and, more crucially, over the long term as it helps to establish the area as a place worth visiting. Margate’s ‘current art mania’ is not a ‘cruel and expensive deception’. It’s a viable way of regenerating an area that is badly in need of it.
Perhaps, but surely for the sake of visitors some of these people could be housed elsewhere? Barcelona very successfully transferred much of its indigent population outside of the city before the Olympic games and is now much better for it and the ex-residents have resettled. Is it too much to ask here for some of these locals to be offered a prefab elsewhere? Say, reclaimed land near Romney Marsh? Architecturally and historically Margate does have much charm and so it seems a little dispiriting that it has fallen so far.
Perhaps you could put them up in the grounds of your stately home, Henry?
David Lloyd George made stately homes and their inhabitants non-viable IsleOne. Inheritance tax and all that. The sad rise of the bourgeoisie and near universal wage slavery. To successfully run one these days one has to actually open the doors to these unwashed and allow them to drag their oversized bodies garbed in sweat shop sports clothing while treading their muddy sports shoe prints over on a Sunday afternoon. Unutterable.
Create fantastic art events and attract lots of people – great for our area both economically, intellectually and spiritually. However, they’ve got to be good enough to bring people back. Would you go back to Margate for Blink II? I missed a party to go, so prob would choose to go to the party next time.
For the hype, build up and outcome…. it was rubbish!
Ive since heard, alot of money was spent on hotels for the dance teachers etc etc to stay local to teach the volenteers…… do we not have proffesional people local and businesses that would contribute for free, or infact could do with some of that money.
I for one would of happily contributed design or musical production services.
Also took a good few days to set up….. security cost must of hit 20K+, was that put out to tender?
Its the same old round here……
Ive offered and tried to put on plenty of free events, but the council wont have it……. cause you cant take a back hander from a free event can you!
Im all for Margate rising and shining, but this event failed in my eyes….. would love some feedback from businesses that were meant to benifit.
Nice comment Isleone… however you miss my point and seem to lack understanding of irony. I’m not suggesting anyone buy a … oh nevermind!
The fact is http://www.thanet.gov.uk/council__democracy/performance/financial_services/anti_fraud_and_corruption.aspx THAT… is a pathetic and completely false statement of conduct!
Thanet council have always been corrupt as they come, since the days of that big money printing thing in the 80s where a number of them were put in prison after nearly bringing down the bank of England… nice move though, My uncle Mike Gerome was the artist who drew and printed the notes for them… look it up, tis true.
This area will NEVER improve until the people at the reins are replaced with people who are happy to lift this area, earn a modest income and not rinse it for what they can get.
The Henry Higgins comment is spot on! very true! haha
Oh, you weren’t suggesting they buy a house? Now I get it.
I suppose Thorleys was pleased with all the added revenue Blink must have generated. Can’t see too many other businesses gaining much.
Adrian, what sort of free events, sounds interesting?
More initiatives very welcome for many across Thanet I’m sure, either in 2012 or after the Food Festival when everyone battens down the hatches and hibernates until March.
According to this report, businesses in the area did well out of the event: http://ht.ly/6jHoY – not just Thorleys.
And we had this response from the Arts Council regarding the cost of Blink:
“Blink is funded through our Regularly Funded Organisation, Canterbury Festival. Part of the funding that was given to Canterbury Festival for 2009 – 2011 was for the delivery of a creative producer project. This project is Blink and it encompassed the large scale spectacular event on the beach at Margate which you attended as well as longer-term opportunities for involvement in a variety of aspects of the creative delivery process for people in the area. The cost of the project was around £350,000 which covered matters including artists costs, production infrastructure and participatory and creative learning activity.
The event was an unprecedented success. Upwards of 20,000 people attended, which undoubtedly helped raise the profile of the arts in the local area and beyond. It boosted cultural tourism and added to the ongoing regeneration of Margate whilst also increasing the income of numerous bars, restaurants and retail outlets in the immediate vicinity. We believe this leaves an invaluable legacy for the town and the region and an appetite for more transformational activity such as this which we believe the arts is ideally placed to provide.
Arts Council England firmly believes that continued support for innovation and excellence is vital for the future of the arts. Blink Margate represents a catalyst to achieve some of our long-term goals for the arts; particularly that more people are involved in the arts, that areas such as Margate experience a cultural regeneration and that talent and artistic excellence are thriving and celebrated across the South East and beyond.”
I wonder how much the Arts Council spokesman was paid to write that twaddle, which completes the case for the prosecution, m’lud.
Samantha – not really. As far as I can tell from the comments on this page, the ‘prosecution’ case is that Blink was a waste of money. I don’t think that their press officer using a few long words proves that in any way.
Another way of saying what the Arts Council have said would be: “Blink cost £350k, gave loads of people a chance to get involved, and generated a lot of cash for local businesses.”
I’d say that was case proven for the defence…
It took you 21 words – and probably some 21 seconds – to translate approx 300 words of jargon. Can you not see that people being paid to turn out this sort of flim-flammery is a perfect example of what those outside the arty set find so infuriating?
Of course – but the discussion isn’t about how many words it takes a press officer to say something. It’s about what an event like this is worth to the community.
The world is full of people talking shit – from politicians to football managers. It’s not confined to the ‘arty set’. What matters in the case of something like Blink is that the people paid to deliver the event do so in such a way that the community benefits – and I think they probably achieved that.
Isleone – your research needs a little more oomph – relying on article from IOT Gazette to say that Blink was successful. Has anyone surveyed the businesses to see how well they did this weekend? Arts Council quotes 20k, article quotes 15k? Do we really think that £350k offers VFM? How many events could that run in the area throughout the year? Broadstairs Carnival didn’t happen this year as the organisers were too worried about raising £6k. BBW cost £9k and created enormous good feeling in the town – one business was up 22% on previous year’s takings and I hear that Tesco was up £4k (uncoroborated). Adrian wants to put on events – how many could he have done that might have had the same positive effect as this one? In Broadstairs businesses are always putting their hands in the pockets to help towards events – some of that £350k would have eased their pain. Just Saying!
I don’t think anyone could realistically describe anything on here as “research”. Whether it was 15000 people or 20000 that came to the town to see Blink, that has to have had some material benefit to local businesses. And you’re right, I have no idea what the figures are or whether you can say it was worth £350k.
But I think that having large scale events helps put a place on the map. It has a much wider benefit than simply pulling in a crowd on a Saturday night. The event was featured in national publications and that helps to raise people’s awareness of the area in general and what else it has to offer. And for a region that relies on tourism, isn’t it obvious that that’s a good thing?
So did 15000 people all spend £20 odd quid in the area to “replace” the £350k that was spent? I have no idea. But I don’t think that’s the point.
Haven’t read the whole correspondence – but generally feel if £220/250K available for arts in Thanet – we could have used it a little more widely. Spectactular things can be achived for a lot less. I know the dancers weren’t paid, and some of them were put onto security during the evening (for no pay)… so we can throw in child exploitation to the mix if you like…
I guess I feel a bit bitter and twisted about it, because although I’m delighted that we have these events in Thanet, I’d like to have divided the amount in to 4 or 5 and created a number of different events – or even used some of the money to rent and equip a centre for a year where various arts groups in Thanet could work together and the have facilities to create something that is both exciting and rooted in the local community – good to use major artists to direct/perform/create things – to widen our horizons.
I spent Sunday after Blink working on Squall in the Park – a music event aimed at teenagers – in Ellington Park Ramsgate, it was a co-operation between Ramsgate Arts, Love Music Hate Racism, Friends of Ellington Park and Pie Factor. It cost under £1000 and pleased about 300+ people – we asked for feedback – one lady said “It wasn’t as good as Blink” – well, duuh?
The question is one of scale: maybe 30K people got a really impressive event, at a cost of approx £8.33 per person for 45mins, our event cost £3.30 per person for 4.5 hours.
Of course it wasn’t as good as Blink – but what I question is whether the £250,000 spent on Blink really provided enough artistic/cultural “nourishment” to keep everyone going for a good long time. Squall in the Park was a different thing, essentially a village fete for teenagers – it was meant to just be fun, to encourage young local bands, give them an opportunity for public performance.
We all need a lot of cultural nourishment in Thanet – and I think rather than have a Blink style Mars bar – very enjoyable, but when it’s over, it’s over, we need to be cultivating our allotments and producing all year round events and stimulation. If the Arts Council could provide us with funding for that we could really see some changes.
Its just bloody madness.
A few years back, myself and friend made a point of using the stage at Jazz Week which sat on the piazza all week fenced of with no entertainment.
We put on 4 nights of FREE live music on there and attracted a very decent amount of people from just a little online promotion.
We can do FREE events….. yes some events do cost money, but 350k, pull the other 1.
There were local dancers and other people that BLINK could have used locally to gain more from the event, not just get in ‘London Professionals’ to do the job and get put up in hotels for god knows how long.
Some extra people in town buying a few more bags of chips than usual is not really helping.
Please email me if you are interested in doing some events or you have a venue, and im sure we can bang heads, and produce some accurate numbers at little cost.
Back to my point though – Blink set itself up to be a prestigious event. I personally don’t think it delivered, especially when they had £350k to spend. If we want to encourage people to come back to the area through these kind of events, they have to know that they are getting the standard set up in the marketing. Margate has a reputation that it has to work hard on to attract the folk it wants to with the Turner Contemporary. They need to know that we can deliver really great events and a great general experience in the area. There’s alot of criticism about the Turner at the moment, people don’t realise that it takes some time to “bed in” a great gallery and difficult to attract the really good exhibitions – that’s a long turn punt. So we can’t lose the audience we want to by setting them up for disappointment.
Schmoozyschlepper: Summer Squall is a fantastic event and tremendous credit to everyone who is involved. I guess the thing about splitting the 350k and making it go further is that the funding for Blink was probably not available in any other way and if Margate didn’t have it from the Arts Council, it would have gone somewhere else. And yes, absolutely it’s necessary to cultivate one’s own garden.
Fiona: I agree.
I have now officially spent longer replying to comments about Blink than Blink actually lasted.
Oh my! oh my! oh my!!!!!!!
I found this site by accident and have read this entire article. Now the point is that I was one of those people that read all the media or as I’d rather call it “twaddle” about this event and thought, “You know what, it’s been a long time since we went to Margate and maybe we should go.” There is a large group of us that get together every other weekend and head for Kent. So it was Margate here we come……..
Bad idea, bad, bad, bad idea. We came to this event.
We didn’t enjoy it and felt that the hype was way over done. There were 20 of us in the group, parking and road closures with little or no directions should have been the first hint we got that all would not be as advertised and should have had us headed straight back out of town and the nearest motorway.
Margate as a whole was very disappointing and while the people we met were charming, we felt the run down look of Margate as a whole made us somewhat uncomfortable.
I am astonished to read that someone thought that 350k spent on this event was a good idea and well spent money. The show was unimpressive and where the idea of a 100 dancers came from I do not know, as it certainly didn’t look as if there were that many there.
The event after so much planning didn’t even have the decency to start on time!!!! How rude when people have come out to see it. Including your locals.
The fireworks can only be described as, well, a let down frankly. I have seen better displays put on by small Kent parishes. (We might be stuck living in London, but we spend our leisure time in and around Kent).
Also whose crazy idea was it to turn off the street lighting, one of our young girls (not wearing high heels I might add, but rather trainers) turned her ankle over very badly and was off work for a week.
Overall we didn’t really enjoy this event and as soon as it was over instead of staying in Margate, we headed straight out of town. I can’t help but be left with the feeling that the charming people of Margate should get and do deserve better.
Instead of spending 350k or what ever ridiculous amount of money was spent on this fiasco, cleaning up the area, making it look less run down into the ground and slum-like in order to attract more people into the town would, in my opinion be a better way to spend this money regardless of where it comes from.
But then what do I know, I’m just someone who along with her friends thought it would be great to go to Margate, have fun and spend money.
Needless to say, I’m not in a hurry to come back and neither are my friends.
And; yet surely we are the very type of people you want to attract, we are people with disposable income who like to spend it.
The same group of us (20 in all) just spent last weekend in Broadstairs, we went down on Friday afternoon and enjoyed it so much we all booked into local B&B’s and spent the entire weekend there. Guess where we will all go again.
Good luck People of Margate…I have a feeling your going to need a lot of it, all the time you have people in charge of your destiny that clearly have no real idea of how to attract and keep people attracted to your town.
Thanks for your comment Lia – it’s as detailed as the original piece itself. I think we can safely say that the consensus on Blink was that it wasn’t enjoyed by everyone. But I hope that doesn’t mean that further events don’t take place – maybe better organised or with less extravagant budgets.
Glad you enjoyed Broadstairs. The next time you’re down, it’s really worth popping over to Margate during the day, maybe take a look inside the Turner and definitely do a bit of shopping around Margate Old Town. It’s like a different world compared with the rest of the town and will hopefully let you see the town in a slightly better light.
Thanks again for taking the time to add your comments.