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Strawberry fair - cambridge

Guest GlastoMad

By Guest GlastoMad,
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elfimaju Newbie

elfimaju

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I'm lucky enough to live just the other side of the Cam from the Common (over the bridge by the Fort) and LOVE Strawberry Fair. Many of the residents (especially on the East and South sides) moan about the Fair but there are loads of us who are big fans. We don't take our kids to Glastonbury so Strawberry Fair gives us a chance to give our three kids (9, 5 and 2) a mini taster. The Fair people themselves are great with the only problems being caused by the chav kids from the local villages who use it as an excuse to get wrecked and destroy stuff (making it more like Reading/Leeds in areas!! :P ). No doubt William of Walworth, a noteworthy member of these boards, will re-appear soon with an update on this year's Fair as he seems well connected.

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William of Walworth Newbie

William of Walworth

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Thread bumped as we have some potentially bad news reported locally in the Cambridge Evening Post.

Strawberry Unfair : The Strawberry Fair faces an uncertain future after police decided to charge for their services at public events.

The Cambridgeshire Police have threatened before to try and bring their charging for Policing local events like SF into line with ACPO guidelines -- ie to charge the event directly for Policing, rather than have Policing paid for out of the general Police budget.

This development, reported on 13 March in the CEN, is potentially pretty serious for this year's SF ... B):)B)

Am currently researching for more information .....

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William of Walworth Newbie

William of Walworth

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I am shamefully late to returning to this thread and therefore missed Martin's post above.

(He's Martin Twiss, Strawberry Fair's main man, so what he says comes straight from the Fair's mouth).

I wish I'd seen it earlier, because for all the hassles with Police (both forces) that they've been having, Martin did confirm above that the 2009 Fair is definitely going ahead, something I'd been unsure about at one point ;)

That British Transport Police latest about banning alcohol on trains is a right bummer though -- BE WARNED.

ALL TRAINS TO CAMBRIDGE WILL HAVE A TOTAL BAN ON ALCOHOL ON 6th JUNE.

It does not matter if the alcohol is in an open container or not. British Transport Police will no doubt be trying to enforce this as enthusiastically as they can - and therefore, it's very important to get that message out to people before they turn up at the train station with a load of booze, to avoid disappointment

Edited by William of Walworth
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Chris12345 Newbie

Chris12345

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First people were on site this morning, all the fencing and whatnot is stacked up on lorries by the public bogs! Lovely weather! Can't wait! :(

**Band plug warning**

Operation FM- 10.20pm, Future Stage... my mates band... ain't seen them yet, but I've seen them in other bands and they've been good!

**Band plug over**

As for the Police charging it's a f**king joke, as far as I'm aware the police have never kicked up a fuss about the Midsummer Fair, which is a far bigger hassle to residents than SF... all we get then is a few stoned hippys and a little bit of illegal parking... and it only lasts for about 36 hours... with the Midsummer we get it for over a week, and I'm imagining people can guess as to the trouble we get with that... I might be completely wrong, but I'm sure the council/police actually encourage and fund that... it's jokes!

There has been trouble in the past, but no worse than a standard night out in Cambridge, whereas the actual Fair can be a warzone at times... the vast majority of arrests/stops are for unbelievably small amounts of weed, which, whatever your view on drugs, is hardly causing trouble...

Woulda been down for the protest but most of us were in London for Wembley!

PS - Elfimaju - if you live close to the common and are supportive of our event, please could I ask you to PM me or pop down during the build up and find me or the Chair, Justin Argent. Each voice of support from people living nearby helps place the comments of detractors in their proper context - and really does help us in our ongoing discussions with Council and police.
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William of Walworth Newbie

William of Walworth

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I hate to be the bearer of downhill forecast tidings, but it's definitely all change weatherwise from today unfortunately.

Prospects for the weekend certainly very much cooler. There's still a large degree of uncertainty about how many showers there might be.

Wrap up warm on Saturday and come prepared.

Met Office East of England forecast (last updated yesterday, will be updated again some time after midday today, and will get updated regularly).

Metcheck for Cambridge -- last updated 6:08 am this morning.

So far showing very light rain only for Saturday so we may get away with it, but this could very easily change.

Thse temperatures are comically low though as is Metcheck's usual summertime wont. Expect 16C or 17C to be more realistic.

Hardly any sunshine though I fear.

Edited by William of Walworth
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William of Walworth Newbie

William of Walworth

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The people that ran the Inflatable Fortress of Fun at Sunrise have asked if I can go to SF. Whats the score on camping etc. Good spots and the like.

There are a few from Manchester making their way down (including the girl that took me to Sunrise), so I may have a trip out, and it would be good to have a chat with me in a reasonable state of mind :D:lol:

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Chris12345 Newbie

Chris12345

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Illegal camping in Cambridge is piss-easy... not sure if they clamp down for SF tho... there's a few decent spots just outside the city... and a few not so decent inside the city... as long as you pitch up your tent when you get back and don't leave it pitched illegally and unattended you should be OK camped somewhere like lamas land/coldhams common... tho yeah, the further out you go the better the spot you'll find... not gonna give you my spots tho :D

Personally I'd recommend Lamas land tho... a fair distance from the fair (further than Coldhams or Stourbridge) but a bit nicer and you're much less likely to get hassled...

(**disclaimer** this post isn't a guarantee of anything! ;))

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