Sunday 24th August 2008, Olympic Handover Day, saw the extraordinary, countywide BIG PICNIC. Seven themed community picnics took place in every district and borough in West Sussex from morning until night.
Events were free, and everyone was invited to bring a picnic and see the arrival of the baguette relay team, accompanied by the Chichester Festival Youth Theatre's Silent Orchestra and Break-dancing Guardsmen in full uniform! View photographs in the BIG PICNIC Gallery.
The BIG PICNIC programme included:
Adur: at Fishersgate Recreation Ground, Circus, Circus! Trapeze and Circus bands were among the acts aboard the open top vintage travelling road show bus!
Arun: at Fletcher's Field, Angmering, Ballroom Blitz! The band struck up and the glitter ball twirled, glamorous dancing couples from the roaring twenties to the thrifty fifties brought to life the intricate rituals of courtship played out on the dance floors of village halls and grand ballrooms alike! Ragroof Theatre's 'Shall We Dance' hit show from Liverpool 08, followed by a Tea Dance with tuition for all ages!
Chichester: at the Weald & Downland Museum & Gridshell, Singleton, The Great Picnic Ceilidh! Everyone was invited to come to this iconic picnic location with free entrance to the Weald & Downland Museum for the fabulous Roots Around The World Great Ceilidh!
Crawley: at The Memorial Gardens, Bollywood! Straight from the National Theatre South Bank, commissioned for Liverpool 08 European Culture Capital, Movieplex by the Nutkhut, with Shanta Rao Dutt's world cinema journey from silent movie to technicolour thriller!
Horsham: at Jubilee Fields, Billingshurst, Giant Board Games! Entertainment included the giant Buckaroo, Snakes & Ladders and music arrived as part of a the Same Sky roadshow
Mid-Sussex: at The Green Sward, Lower Village, Bolnore, Giant Board Games! All were invited to play giant Buckaroo and Snakes & Ladders accompanied by the energetic Fanfara klezmer band with the fabulous Same Sky
Worthing: at Steyne Gardens, Twilight Vocal Explosion! Everyone was invited to bring a picnic to this wonderful seaside location and dine by lantern light to Same Sky's final event of the day accompanied by the haunting and powerful voices of Juliet Russell's Vocal Explosion!