Evesham River Festival 2009

11th July 2009

This collection is a sample of my photographs of the 2009 Evesham River Festival; I took over 700 in total, not quite a daily record, but far in excess of last year, and this in spite of some awful weather, especially in the morning and the evening.

Having been granted official status by the event organisers, I went all out on this one, which wasn't made any easier by the weather. I started out early in the morning, photographing the boats at their moorings (I believe I managed most of those moored either directly alongside Waterside, or accessible from the Abbey Park side of the River).

The contents of this collection as a follows (in chronological order):

Moored Boats (taken before the opening ceremony)
Morris Dancers arriving for the opening ceremony
Boat Handling
Dinghy Race (new for 2009)
Afternoon Parade
Line Dancing
Night Parade (in spite of the rain!)

The two bands that appeared at the Festival, the Bucket Band and the Blind Lemon Band, have now both got their own collections.

I've now taken the collection to 48 photographs and do not have any immediate plans to upload any more (and I think most of the boats I photographed are shown here in one form or another). I don't intend to separate out any more of the secondary events either, although I may change my mind if there is sufficient demand.

The Battle of Britain Flypast had been called off some time back despite what may have been stated in some of the local publications (and this site - apologies, I hadn't realised it had been called off either). I didn't photograph the fireworks as by this point camera and photographer were both very wet, and I felt I was pushing my luck a bit too far. Full marks to Sony for a durable piece of kit; it performed brilliantly the next day, and maybe I should wash it more often! However, I would not recommend anyone attempting flash photography in adverse weather conditions unless they are certain their camera equipment is watertight! One short circuit could have damaged my camera and possibly blown me into the Rowing Club Building! My luck held this time; next time I may not be so lucky.

On the whole I am pleased with my work during the day, especially the night parade, where the somewhat insane risk of using camera and flash in rain paid off with "April Rose". The amount of variety I got during the day was vast; one minute I was photographing boats, and the next I'm photographing rock groups.

A copy of around 300 or so of the photographs has now been delived to Hazel Hanlon (I felt that the remaining photographs were either duplications, or "rain-damaged")

My thanks to Hazel, the event organisers, the crews and other participants who put so much effort into entertaining us, despite the weather. I'd also like to thank the organisers for publicising me in the brochure and granting me official status for the event, which gave me the confidence to get in a lot closer than I would normally have dared to (I would also like to thank the lady who offered me the use of her umbrella during the Blind Lemon Band's first set). I hope to be back next year (with, hopefully, better weather).

[I think I owe an apology to the photographer who produced the firework photograph on the Event Brochure. Despite what it says on the cover, that photograph isn't one of mine; it's far too good! The error was not of my making and I have asked the event organisers to investigate]

"Victoria", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4563.JPG 2009-07-11 09:11:02 Buy Print	"Phrolic", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4564.JPG 2009-07-11 09:12:18 Buy Print	"Yaffle", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4567.JPG 2009-07-11 09:16:21 Buy Print	"Lily", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4570.JPG 2009-07-11 09:21:53 Buy Print
"Sapphire", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4576.JPG 2009-07-11 09:46:26 Buy Print	"Tranquility", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4580.JPG 2009-07-11 09:48:25 Buy Print	"Ranchi", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4582.JPG 2009-07-11 09:48:59 Buy Print	"Kumeka", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4587.JPG 2009-07-11 09:50:23 Buy Print
"Mahjong", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3503x2335 River_Fest_09_4589.JPG 2009-07-11 09:52:27 Buy Print	"Majessa", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4594.JPG 2009-07-11 10:03:12 Buy Print	"Young Girl", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4597.JPG 2009-07-11 10:45:05 Buy Print	"Jodarolo", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4602.JPG 2009-07-11 10:48:44 Buy Print
"Lord Toulouse", Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4603.JPG 2009-07-11 11:01:04 Buy Print	A Dog's Life in the Crew of Bewdley Jester, Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4606.JPG 2009-07-11 11:15:53 Buy Print	Morris Dancer (1), Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 2592x3872 River_Fest_09_4613.JPG 2009-07-11 11:36:11 Buy Print	Morris Dancer (2), Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 2044x3066 River_Fest_09_4624.JPG 2009-07-11 11:58:03 Buy Print
Morris Dancer (3), Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 2048x3072 River_Fest_09_4638.JPG 2009-07-11 12:12:52 Buy Print	Morris Dancers, Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3298x2198 River_Fest_09_4642.JPG 2009-07-11 12:13:38 Buy Print	Huggy in the Box, Boat Handling Competition, Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 2592x1728 River_Fest_09_4670.JPG 2009-07-11 12:41:14 Buy Print	Boat out of Hell in the Box, Boat Handling Competition, Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 2934x1956 River_Fest_09_4677.JPG 2009-07-11 12:48:17 Buy Print
"Lily Belle" on the Boat Handling Course, Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3393x2262 River_Fest_09_4681.JPG 2009-07-11 12:53:23 Buy Print	Lily Belle Lifebelt Drop, Boat Handling Competition, Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3008x2005 River_Fest_09_4685.JPG 2009-07-11 12:55:38 Buy Print	Charisma Lifebelt Drop, Boat Handling Competition, Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 2995x1996 River_Fest_09_4692.JPG 2009-07-11 13:19:14 Buy Print	Bewdley Jester Lifebelt Drop, Boat Handling Competition, Evesham River Festival, 11th July, 2009 3872x2592 River_Fest_09_4705.JPG 2009-07-11 13:28:16 Buy Print