Organ Alley 2007 Cancelled!!

[George Houghton]

This will come as a disappointment to all Organ Enthusiasts.

There will be no Organ Alley at the 2007 G D S F.

Martin Oliver has notified Organ Alley exhibitors that the wet weather during last years event which resulted in a decreased public attendance has forced them to place financial restrictions on this years budget for the show.

Unfortunately Organ Alley is one of the casualities.

Martin does say that it may be back in 2008.

Regards
George.
_________________
Dont despair. (Moses was once a basket case)

[Ben Jackson]

Thats a shame that isn't going to be a Organ Alley this year, as its a great place for organ owners and entuhusias's to meet & enjoy listening to music played on some great organs.
Ben

[Andy Stephens]

Does this mean that they won't fund any aspect of the alley, or just the tent and generator? If they're still paying the organs' attendance fees then we could still have an alley of sorts. Come to that, just getting in and camping for free saves a large amount of money, so maybe some of us could forgo the attendance fee and come anyway? They need something to fill the gap, after all...

[Dave Stubbs]

Hi Andy.

I think the answer is that there will be no marquee and there will be substantially fewer invitations for organs this year, whether the organ owners wish to come for free or not.

The generator next to the old OA marquee was actually for the campsite lighting and the fire station next to the top of Heavy Haulage and not provided for Organ Alley anyway.

Don't forget that at this years event, Organ Alley would have been moved to where the Miniature Steam section was last year, so it would have required a dedicated generator.

I will forward your request to Alan Roberts, but I don't think he will have anything different to say.


Regards,

Dave Stubbs

[Dave Stubbs]

Hi Andy.

I forwarded your post to Alan Roberts.

He replied:

[George Houghton]

[Andy Stephens]

That's unfortunate but, whilst I can understand that some people travel further and perhaps incur higher expenses in doing so, perhaps we should consider the benefits of free entry as exhibitors. I calculated that for my immediate family, five nights camping and five days admission would set us back three hundred pounds before any other expenses are allowed for. Considering this is the premier show of the year and many people, ourselves included, treat it as a hobby holiday, maybe we ought to be more willing to go for free and make this fact known before hand.

[Dave Stubbs]

Hi Andy.

Yes, free entry is a great benefit, one of which I have taken full advantage of for some years - but I hasten to add that I won't be this year. I live 260 miles away in Manchester and unless I decide to take a holiday 'down south', it is just too far to travel for the annual visit to the GDSF! Admittedly, the event is well worth the gate fee (which I think is about £15 now), but on top of the journey from NW UK, it makes it too expensive.

But you have to remember that the GDSF is a business, of which some of its take goes to charity and it must charge for entry, or the event would cease to exist.

As you say, you would make the event £300 better off if you decided to go for the week as paying punters...Or put another way, they will be £300 worse off if you don't go, or you gain free entry!

There have been rumours circulating that the GDSF was going to cut the number of organs each year anyway, so maybe they have used last years 'gate-take' as an excuse to do just that.


Regards,

Dave Stubbs

[Andy Stephens]

Must admit that thought did cross my mind too and the line-up may have been a bit over-subscribed in the past but they've got to draw the line somewhere. I guess we'll have to wait and see.