Boomtown Arrivals . . .

RaggaRory was getting really excited now. Gabba Babba had told him that they were almost at the Boomtown Fair, and had dug into his little rucksack to sort out the things he would need to show he was a part of it. RaggaRory really admired Gabba, as he had been part of the Slamboree crew for some years, so was an old hand at festivals. He knew the best places to pitch the tent, the best bargains where getting food and drink were concerned – and he knew lots of the groups who played at the festivals!

RaggaRory only hoped that he wouldn’t make a fool of himself, like he had at the Secret Garden festival, and he was determined to be as good as possible, so Brex would continue taking him with her – after all, he knew she was going to America soon, with the UK Fireworks Collective, to show their Pyrotechnic skills. Brex had told him about last year’s trip, and he was eager than ever to go there.

Brex dancing in front of the Burning Man, 2012.

But first, he had all the excitement of Boomtown to look forward to!

Gabba handed him a ring of material, with the name Boomtown on it, and told him to put it on, so that the officials there would know he wasn’t a gatecrasher. RaggaRory wasn’t  quite sure how it should be worn, and so put it over his foot, as he figured everyone would see it then. He couldn’t understand why everyone was laughing, and looked at Gabba, who sat there, Slamboree sticker stuck to his head, and with his shoulders shaking with mirth.

Ragga wasn’t sure whether Gabba was laughing at him.

Brex leaned over, and gently patted Ragga’s foot, “Never mind, Ragga, you wear it whichever way you like.”

Ragga would have blushed if he could, but decided that he wasn’t going to let a little mistake like that upset him. After all, Brex had smiled so nicely at him when she spoke 🙂

RaggaRory shows off his Boomtown bracelet with pride 🙂

Feeling really happy again, RaggaRory, looked around, and saw that they were nearly at the gates to the Boomtown site, and he started looking madly around, trying to see everything he could. It seemed as though, in no time at all, Brex had set up their tent, snuggled in among those of all her friends, and RaggaRory was getting more and more excited. He wanted to see how many people had already set up around them, and so Brex lifted him up to have a look around.

RaggaRory was amazed at the sea of tents and vans surrounding them!

RaggaRory couldn’t believe how many tents and vans there were already – and this was days before the actual event would start! Brex told him that this was just the section for those taking part in the Festival, and that there were other sites for the public, when they arrived to enjoy the festival. RaggaRory couldn’t imagine how many people that would be – just the amount of people doing the entertainment alone seemed like a huge crowd to him. But, although he felt a bit nervous about that, he knew he had his friend Gabba Babba to guide him, and he was sure there would be others there to keep him company while Brex organised her part of the entertainments – both with Slamboree, and with the new group she had brought together, The Gutterstars Collective, whose début performance of Gul Deguu (Fire Sisters) would be performed at the weekend. RaggaRory loved the show that Brex had thought up, as he’d gone along to the rehearsals over the last few weeks, and he thought it would be pretty spectacular.

That night, RaggaRory settled down to sleep, full of excitement at what the rest of the week would bring and, as he fell asleep, he dreamed of Brex rising up into the air, just as he’d seen her do so often at rehearsals . . . .