According to the media we can expect wonders untold, together with catastrophes as we enter the new millennium. Changes we are bound to witness, like at every New Year, but apart from that we should be carrying on as usual.
We will be selecting our breeding pairs, awaiting results and blaming everybody except oneself when things go wrong. We will be over the moon when eye-stoppers appear in the nest box and that will have nothing to do with the millennium.
We will be casting our minds back to the year, which has now become part of history and dreaming of what we would like to experience in the months to come.
I have been thinking about the Shows we have attended and how we must tackle those defeatists who are continually moaning about the Fancy. Yes, most hobbies associated with livestock have been through a bad patch in the closing years of the 1900’s but that surely does not mean it’s the end of the world! What we need is positive thinking and tackling problems instead of moaning about them.
I don’t know how many times I have heard people complaining that entries at shows have been going down. Yes, that’s true but how many will agree that one, if not the biggest reason is that we have far too many shows in the calendar year. We need far more flagship shows and fewer of those, which split the hobby. Here in the U.K. the Budgerigar Society has graded patronage, schemes based on entries. Some shows have found it difficult to reach the necessary figure simply because of competition with other, smaller, shows, a short car ride away. The number of exhibitors are there but they are being split up and they attend either the show where they find winning easier or the car journey is shorter. The B.S. can do something about this and I hope they will in the near future.
Shows are not just for exhibitors
I am getting more and more convinced that most of the shows I have attended in recent years have been staged by exhibitors for exhibitors. There has been little or no effort to attract either other bird fanciers or the general public and it is in these last two categories that the future lies. If you need new members, then you will get few, if any, from those who support shows by staging exhibits. New members must be brought into the fancy from outside the exhibitor circle.
Flagship Shows should be the shop window of the fancy; a venue where a family could spend the day out. Of course you must have birds and the more the merrier. But after viewing the birds what else can one do?
I don’t think the answer lies in a seminar or guest speaker. Those are for the dedicated (and many will have heard the same old story time and time again) but for visitors to the show they must be attracted by other events. These could be demonstrations (and not necessarily confined to birds). There should be a variety of trade stands, which would pull in people and they should be in the show hall.
In 1988 Budgerigar World was responsible for staging the first Rares Show (at Luton). It has been held yearly since then at Ryton-on-Dunsmore. The first year the entry was 1646. In 1999 the entry was 1756 from 134 exhibitors. This is a gain of 110 entries in eleven years and the exhibitors are to be applauded for their dedication.
However I am wondering whether the time has come for a change of venue. The hall at Ryton is part of a leisure complex. It is relatively small, but has served itŐs purpose well. It is not by today;’ standards, an attractive venue and the area has little appeal except to an exhibitor. It does not offer scope for expansion whereas I think the Show has great possibilities.
Referring to what I have written above I feel that the time has come to stage a far bigger Rares Show and to that end I think the B.S. should think of taking it under its wing. A new venue is required and the B.S. could think of introducing the show with a young bird section for normal varieties or even an owner bred one as well as the rares. Emphasis should be placed on attracting trade stands so that people could wander around after viewing the birds.
The location is also important and I must admit that at the time of the year when the Rares show is being held one should consider a seaside town where the family could spend a weekend. Blackpool? It’s a thought!!
A disappointing turnout
I attended the National at its new venue in Telford and from my point of view, being a Budgieman the budgerigar section was a disaster.
After viewing around 275 exhibits on the budgerigar show bench I was so glad there were countless trade stands in the nearby halls where I could spend the greater part of the day otherwise my journey would have been a sheer waste of time. The parrot display was also a bonus.
Knowing the reaction of both organisers and exhibitors at our Open Shows when they have failed to make the grade in numbers, I think the BS should have a rethink about awarding a Grade A to shows that do not produce the numbers. Awarding C.C.’s to a show where you have fewer than 300 birds devalues the whole system. I wonder what others think of my comments.
The BS Club Show
Finally, let me make one further suggestion about our own B.S. Club Show. Having lost the Foreign Bird section there is a gap, which needs filling in the attractions to visitors to the show. I repeat, we should be thinking of staging something to attract visitors apart from the exhibitors. We had more trade stands, which was great, but we do need more and they need not be selling birdseed for instance. They could be anything to do with our gardens and homes. What we should aim for is an attraction for the family and not merely one for exhibitors.
© Gwyn Evans 2000
Use Back Button On Your Browser To Return To Article List