At this moment, still no date has been set for the Famous and overattended Lampton Park Barrio Fiesta in Hounslow. That may have been affected by the closeness with the Olympics... As soon as I get wind of it, I will post it for all and sundry, and hope to be able to meet some of you there at long last. But for now you will have to do with.... http://www.adoborice.com/filipino-events/02-june/Bristol-Barrio-Fiesta-2012.aspx http://www.adoborice.com/filipino-events/17-june/Yorkshire-Barrio-Fiesta.aspx http://www.adoborice.com/filipino-events/23-june/Barrio-Fiesta-sa-Birmingham-Midlands.aspx http://www.adoborice.com/filipino-e...Pinoy-Barrio-Fiesta-and-Santacruzan-2012.aspx There are no other dates available. The North West Barrio Fiestas ie Liverpool and Blackpool haven't been finalized yet... Why they leave things until the last minute is beyond me...
And so we went.....................:wave: The trip was a breeze, I stopped briefly at the services so that the ladies could check the plumbing and departed again within 10 minutes. The traffic was non existent really, no problems at all although some of our friends missed the M42 exit for some strange reason and got lost..... Anyway, they turned up again after a short trip all the way to Wembley Stadium.... Parking ther car was a doddle, just a couple of hundred yards from the park entrance and didn't cost a penny, if I had follwed the instructions, I would have been forced to pay £10 and walk for ages. But I followed my instincts, honed by years of parking at agricultural shows around the country, and don't take no, for an answer... So, if we go again next year, I am assured the same spot.... The Fiesta was great, we arrived at about 9.30ish am, and there were already people about, we picked a nice little spot and camped our chairs and pic-nic mat. Immediately, the ladies in the party wanted to go and get some food.... And it took ages to convince them to wait a bit longer. The entertainment was good, some of it anyway.... The celebrities in attendance didn't fail the crowd and were very welcome by all and sundry. That little bit of rain didn't spoil anything, but added a bit of britishness to the whole affair, I reckon... The gentle breeze soon dried up the damp, but at that stage, noone cared about it. I had the pleasure to see an Airbus A380 coming in to land, and it ain't noisy at all.... For a while I was plane spotting... Sad, huh...??? But trying to identify tail fin marking to a specific airline can be quite a task sometime... Anyway, at around 4.30 we decided to leave, collected the car and left. We missed the traffic altogether and were on the road home in no time at all, infact we arrived in Wrexham at about 8pm. Tired and satisfied enough and already planning to attend the next one.
Just to say that I thought the festival was great. Food was OK even for a westerner like me who is now semi-filipino The only bad point of the whole day was the car parking in my view - getting in to the car park in Sutton Lane was not too much of a problem - people were eager to take your £10 and point you to somewhere to park. Getting out at the end of the day was a completely different matter as all of the helpful people that were giving directions and assisting when you arrived had completely vanished. Essentially, something like 1000+ cars trying to get out of a field which has a single gate wide enough for one car. Now I know that filipinos do not like to queue - this can be seen in many places like shops, airports etc and this car park became an example of that where at one point there must have been 15 lines of cars all bumper to bumper trying to get through the one single gate. It eventually took us 2 hours and 50 minutes to just get out of the car park to the main road. Organisers - please do something about this for next year otherwise I do not think that I would be going - which would be a shame.
Still a bit peeved that there hasn't been a Manchester Barrio Fiesta for a couple of years... Oh, and welcome to British Filipino dtyrer
Glad you had you a good time. The last time we went Boris turned up to give a speech. He arrived in an m reg blue van that he drove himself. That was a laugh! The only fiesta I can see yet to happen up here is in Bradford next weekend. Perhaps that's not too bad for redbricks. A nice little trip along the A65! There's also an event with Ai Ai coming up at the Manchester Apollo but that's £45-£50 a ticket. Ngekkkk!
I agree with you Kuya that the fiesta in Manchester has been missed. Heaton Park was pretty good I thought but I do know they were asking extortionate amounts for having a stand at the fiesta. So maybe that's been a problem. Let's hope for next year!
They don't just have to hold it in Heaton Park. There are numerous parks that have access to parking and the metrolink to make a Manchester Barrio Fiesta worthwhile.
I am not too sure wether the Liverpool, Manchester or Blackpool will be held again. When I went to the Barrio Fiesta in Blackpool a couple of years ago, I did ask if and when the Manchester one would be held again, and the filipino bloke in charge was more interested in asking me what business of mine it was, than give information out... A woman, came to the rescue trying to explain that some committee or the other, within the various Filipino Groups in the North west, was in charge of the decision making ... It seems to me that they haven't come to any arrangements yet, then... As one would expect.... Too many cooks.... I do understand the difficulties encountered in trying to organise a public event such as that. Health ans Safety comes to mind, with all the various distintc pc rules and safety concerns. Security has to be arranged. Entertainment. Venues, Time off work for some. and a host of other just as important things. And all this has to be paid somehow, so the few stall holders that may think about setting up shop for the couple of days, will bear the brunt of the charges, and obviously don't feel as if they want to come again, especially if the perceive to have been ripped off... I would like to take my lot to Bradford for the day, but I will be busy with work at that time. Maybe next year.
Last year we stayed at the Master Robert Hotel over night, sort of across the road, and in a sense it was a better experience over the two days, but the overall cost was a bit over the top. As I said I didn't have any problem parking, or going back home. We were not adversely affected by the traffic. I did experience "that" car park and the money grabbing pinoys at the gate, the first time we went 4 years ago, and I also experienced the slow filtration out of the mud and onto the main road. So I promised myself then, that I would find better alternatives for the future. And I did.... For two years we parked in the council, sort of multi-storey car park, beside Lampton Park itself, and because of some organizational cock-up it was closed this year. A veritable blessing in disguise, as I managed to secure a nice, off the road spot for nothing...:vhappy:
Kuya, you're right there are lots of parks that could be used. In fact, i'd prefer it nearer to me! I was being told that for the manchester fiesta the organisers were asking £1200-£1500 for a stall. I think aromulus' experience probably provides a good insight. These organising committees are often about a struggle for power and prominence. They are very precious with their information and find it very difficult to agree on anything. Everybody thinks their idea is best. As aromulus found out if they think you're sticking your nose in they'll close ranks! Childish in my opinion but that's often been my experience of these things. They can't agree on things at a local level never mind regional!
Hope you can make bradford brian. Not a bad trip. Done the trip in the other direction. Quite enjoyable.
yes i will look at that see if my girl will go id like to take her to one as iknow she will like it and she will meet lots of fellow philippinos
For a while I have been wondering if common mortals like ourselves could be able to organize an event like that somewhere suitable... Or is it something that only Filipinos can cock up...?? Cook up............... Sorry.............
I think we could do a perfectly good job of cocking it up! (ooops my spellchecker is stuck) Right, well it has to be in manchester because it's the best place in the world, ulverston is in the middle of nowhere and they speak funny in wrexham! Ha ha ha i did say i was an honorary filipino
