By Stu Freeman our new Arts Administrator
I started at Cirque Bijou at the beginning of April as the Arts Administrator. Looking after all things marketing and social media. My first event to attend as part of my job was called The Big Bahooey. A brand new family friendly festival at Hampton Court Palace. On Saturday May 24th I hopped on a train to see what the festival was going to be like and get a taste of what was in store at my new job. What was awaiting me was nothing short of spectacular and insane.
All of the stages, entertainment and performers had been curated by Cirque Bijou and the scale was pretty huge. From giant inflatable monsters, circus workshops and multiple performance stages this event definitely had it all.
Luckily the day was planned out on notice boards and online very clearly. The performances were repeated a couple of times throughout the day. This meant I could capture footage and photographs of almost every aspect of the festival. Seeing some of the performers that I had been interacting with via email was really lovely.
The atmosphere was so light and fun, all of the attendees seemed to really get stuck in to what we had created. It was so heartwarming to see so many families rush from one stage to another to try and catch all of the acts.
The walkabout performers also kept people entertained just as much as the stages. These performers were all so diverse and creative. It made me quite proud that my new workplace was creating so many memories for the festival goers.
Content Creation
I managed to film almost every aspect of the festival which took me all afternoon on the Saturday. I came back for a few hours on Sunday to grab some footage of the performers who were only there that day. On Sunday I also got to take a look around the stunning Hampton Court grounds and the palace itself. Access to the palace was included in the ticket price for attendees which seemed like great value for money.
My first event at my new job was so much fun. Now came the task of putting all of the footage together. Here’s hoping The Big Bahooey becomes a yearly event that Cirque Bijou can be involved in.
I can’t wait to see what other events I get to cover and what we have in store for the rest of the year. If it is anything like this one it’s going to be a pretty wild and wacky ride.
You can see the social media reel that I created from The Big Bahooey below.
Photo credit: Andre Pattinson & Stu Freeman