Here we are… Poacher 2022! Kicking off our weeklong festival, the opening ceremony has started us off with a bang. Circus Fest led the parade into the main stage, with the subcamp team towering over us all as they walked in on stilts, showing off their amazing skills - which I am sure they will pass on to their participants. In the middle of the celebrations we were treated to a surprise jamboree proposal, congratulations Dave & Claire! As Folk Fest finished filling in the main stage area, all 5,500 participants were ready for the start of one of the first Jamborees since 2019. 10,000 people will pass through Poacher over the next week making it the 20th biggest settlement in Lincolnshire.
The tension was building as each sub-camp with Circus Fest, Quest Fest, Carnival Fest, Wonder Fest, Wild West Fest, and Folk Fest gave us their loudest cheers, before a show of unity as Mexican waves flowed across the crowd including all the participants, leaders, and staff. Finally, the official part of the opening ceremony started with the crowd ready to go.
Robbie White kicked off the celebrations singing and hyping up the crowd. A video reflected on the time since Poacher 2017 and the months of lost Scouting and Guiding due to the Covid 19 pandemic. With the participants, leaders, and staff now sharing a vision of what Poacher will be over this next week, we welcomed all the countries at Poacher this year including Canada, Netherlands, USA, Republic of Ireland, and Jersey. Ukraine was also recognised for support due to the current conflict. Every country paraded their flag through the crowd, celebrating all the nationalities on site as each flag was raised. The main arena will host the flags for the week as well as the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) flag, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), and Poacher flags. Poacher was then officially opened by all the participants making as much noise as possible to recognise that the jamboree is for the young people and is a youth led event.
With the official part of the opening ceremony over, the festival could begin. The crowd bunched up at the front of the stage where Here At Last provided a solid opening, getting all the subcamps up and moving - including our 50/50 staff on Wonder Fest who didn’t need any encouragement. Angels and Bandits came on next and rocked the stage, keeping the energy high and maintaining the youth led theme with all members being aged 16-18! The time had then come for the main act that everyone had been waiting for to start… Max and Harvey! Who entered with a loud roar through the crowd. As the final act of the night they kept the party going with everyone dancing and partying - a fitting end to such an energetic event. With the opening finished it was time for the participants to go and get some rest before beginning the 150 activities available across the site, which the media team will be reporting on throughout the week.
Wanting to relive the atmosphere? Checkout JamFM's Opening Ceremony Soundbites:
You can see our gallery from the opening ceremony:
