Archery exhibitions & demonstrations?

[TJ Mason]

I've had an enquiry from someone about putting on an archery exhibition at a county show. It's not the sort of thing my own club can do, but I'd like to give them some pointers.

Does anyone know which clubs or organisations in the North of England are involved in these kind of exhibitions and demonstrations?

[Gold Flinger]

There's always an archery "have-a-go" display at Lowther agricultural show near Penrith. I think it's Kendal Bowman that host it. If anyone has a contact there thay might be good people to talk to.
They basically take a load of fiberglass trainer bows, around 10 bosses and plenty of backstop netting. Don't know where they stand from an insurance point of view etc.
They put up balloons and apples on strings or a darts face. (I won a rossette one year! )

[Dave]

<font size="2">

(I won a rossette one year! )

</font></p>

<font size="2">I think you should wear it whenever and wherever you shoot; It'd go well with your green jodphurs#</font></p>

[Furface]

We at Adel have done this quite a bit in the past, but it is very labour intensive and getting volunteers is difficult. That said, a Have-A-Go at an event like this is a great fundraiser. Lots of trainer bows, cheap arrows needed. Each punter buys three arrows, and you have to give them a quick lesson there and then (barebow style) - so you need any number of tutors. Only collect the arrows every few minutes, not after each punter, so you need lots of those. Number of bosses depends on how many you can transport, but, if you have ten, say, you will need at least ten tutors. Add in a couple of people handing out equipment full time, and someone taking the money. And then a couple of extras, so you can rotate and have tea breaks.
The field layout is fully described in a GNAS document called "Code of Practice for Have A Go's", as are insurance requirements, and other bits and bobs. Might even be on the website.
Of course, if it is just an "exhibition", there are different problems, starting with "what do they want exhibited". Never done these!

[English Bowman]

We do exhibition shooting. (Gwynn and I are known exibitionists, or shouldn't I be admitting to that?)
It takes a lot of time, effort and investment just to get things ready for a display. The actual show itself is great fun.
Check out the Purbrook Bowmen section of www.purbrookbowmen.org.uk for details of what we do. We find that the medieaval style is what most people expect from an archery display, and they are dissapointed with a display of modern archery. We then take the opportunity to promote the modern sport when talking to the public after our display. What we have done in the past is work with a target club who run a have a go set up allongside our displays. This works very well as people are drawn in by the history and then see that it is a modern sport all round, and decide to have a go.
(We would be prepared to travel, but only if all our expenses are met)

Daniel

[gwynn]

But English Bowman has neglected to say that we are doing an exhibition shoot at the International Festival of the Sea held in Portsmouth Naval Dockyard end of June, begining of July. I love doing shows, [as Dan says, the exhibitionist comes out, grrr, just love those green tights!] it takes archery to the people, they may have seen lots of films but you still get an ooh ah when an arrow shatters on a helmet or takes a target in the throat, it certainly generates a lot of interest.
We will always get people coming up to us afterwards and asking where they can learn to shoot and conveniently Dan is one of three coaches on our team, who run classes at Fort Purbrook, behind Portsmouth.
This year, IFOS, nautical theme and all that, our display is based on the naval battle of Sluys, 1340, where Edward III used his archers to great effect and went on to win a great victory.
Thankfully we will be in a drydock and not on the water 'cos my mail shirt alone weighs 25 kilos and you tend to float like a brick with one of those around your neck! I am praying for cooler weather.
Typically, if we weren't down a drydock, we would also run a 'have a go' section using 'jelly' bows and blunts, targeting knock-down knights' heads sticking up from behind a castle wall. Kiddies [and grown ups too] enjoy this! And so do I, the grin on a kid's face when he, or she, hits the target makes a long hot day worth it and you never know, you may be instructing a future world champion. I have seen quite a few 'naturals'.
As always, safety is paramount. We have turned down 'gigs' when our safety rules could not be met, we are all experienced archers and are insured for any mishap.
Love it!