Monday, November 23, 2009

To The Trees


Last Monday the weather was much more amenable that it's been today, so I was able to attend the finale of the Somerset Illuminated Carnival that took place in Weston-Super-Mare, a pretty seaside town in SW England.


There are mainly two types of float taking place in the Carnival, tableaus (motionless pose) and features (dancing and movement). All floats are illuminated, as the Carnival takes place at night.


By far the most impressive tableau was Gemini CC's To The Trees, with a Robin Hood theme. The detail in presentation was amazing, and the poses were challenging and very well executed. I mean, how long can anyone stay with their mouths open, staring into space?


Apparently, some people can keep going for more than two hours!


Unsurprisingly, To The Trees won first place in the best tableau category and were also joint overall winners.


I generally prefer features, but couldn't fail to be impressed by this particular tableau. I stood really close to it at the end of the procession and I swear it was like looking at waxworks.


It was only when you looked into their eyes that you could tell they were definitely humans.


I bet they were really happy when they heard the STOP command and could finally relax their poses and give their poor muscles a rest!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

spooky! I really thought they weren't real!? Put Weston-Super-Mare back on the map ;)

Margarita said...

Wow, impressive. I'd have my muscles twitch by the first 20 minutes!

Tinsie said...

@ Anonymous: Spooky is the word!

@ Marg: Do you think you could last 20 minutes? I'm sure I couldn't!!

Gattina said...

Wow, that looks very dramatic, lol ! If it could be a consolation to you we also have a lousy weather ! stormy, rainy, grey not that cold (around 13°) but what a difference with Egypt ! I had 30° in the morning and beautiful sunshine and when we landed the plane waggled like a dog tail because of the wind !

Tinsie said...

Yes, it's pretty warm here too, but quite wet and windy. Nothing like Egypt!

Mo said...

Wow I need to go to this next time. When do they do their next event

Lina ♥ C´est la vie said...

Really spooky :)

GMG said...

Hi Tinsie! Spooky reportage!!

Bilbao is at Blogtrotter for your joy. Have a great time!!

Lowell said...

This is incredible! I've seen the Rose Parade in person on a couple of occasions and many times on TV, but this beats that hands down!

I especially like that first photo!

And it does appear rather chilly, which I imagine would make it more difficult to stay in one position for two hours.

I can't even sit in the same chair for 2 minutes, much less 2 hours!

Tinsie said...

@ Mo: The carnival is part of the celebration for Guy Fawkes Night, so the next one will be towards the end of October/beginning of November next year.

@ Jacob: It was so cold that I had trouble operating my camera, but I think it was warmer on the floats, because of all the light bulbs. Still, even if it was nice and warm, I don't think I could do it!

Anonymous said...

little scary and you captured their various moods in a great way