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Eager aviators and wingless wonders took to the skies last weekend during the kingdom’s 23rd annual Birdman competition … for a fleeting couple of seconds before reality, and a face full of water, sank their dreams.
One of the kingdom’s favourite family events, hosted by the British Club in Um Al Hassam, attracted a crowd of hundreds as both adults and children alike dressed up in a variety of fancy dress costumes and built contraptions as they spread their wings across the establishment’s swimming pool.
The festivities were organised by the Llongsteppers, the charitable society of the British Club, to raise funds for The Mission for Seafarers. Ultimately, more than BD1,200 was raised through donations, entries and raffle tickets and will be presented to the society in the near future.
Leaping from a scaffold erected at the deep end, both the junior and adult participants competed for prizes in three categories; Longest Jump, Best Costume and Most Entertaining.
The winner of most entertaining in the adult category was Fanny Panny, Tinkerbelle and Wendy, who donned a medley of fairy costumes and paraded a number of signs praising detestable public figures. A sprinkle of magic dust later, and the signs were reversed into something far more pleasant. Unfortunately for the girls, said magic dust didn’t enable them to defy gravity.
Winners of ‘Best Costume’ were the Flying Grannies, who somehow mustered the strength and will to hobble up the numerous stairs onto the platform. A long, arthritic-ridden removing of wigs, frocks and walking sticks later, the grannies were suddenly Superwomen and they soared off the platform into the distance … in their dreams. Down they went into the drink too.
Amongst the favourite acts were Andrew Savage and Simon Cox, both Llongsteppers and event organisers, who once again brought their best comedy routine to the proceedings. Always on the button for topical satire, the two turned their attention to current traffic laws and fines with a wonderful lampoon of driving mentality.
This topped the British general election and Bahraini immigration from previous entries, although unfortunately their jump didn’t!
The two combined again to take flight in a red biplane as the main spectacle, although with the tail being set on fire before they even took off, it was a portent for what was to come as the couple failed their audition for the Royal Air Force Spitfire crew.
In the junior’s section, Crocodile Rock won Best Costume and Best Entertainment Value went to The Kardashians in a well-represented category.
GulfWeekly’s nominated representative (yours truly) chickened out of taking a costumed plunge, thanks to a mixture of limited artistic ability and a strong tendency to adopt stage fright amongst watchful eyes, but I did later on splash into the pool to cool down after a sweltering day and make a charitable donation.
Andrew, a former chairman of the club, said: “Once again it was a brilliant day and the support was fantastic. I think everyone enjoyed it and had a thoroughly good day out.
“We raised a really good sum and we look forward to presenting the cheque to the Mission For Seafarers next week once it’s all been counted up. We’ll be back next year in the hope of attracting more participants for a worthy cause!”
