Africa in Motion

28 October 2012

"I Love It When A Plan Comes Together"

A behind the scenes look at the opening night of AiM...

 

The date: 25th October. The Place: Filmhouse Edinburgh. The Time: NOW!

 

After weeks and months of planning, ripping it up and planning again, tonight was the night. All our spreadsheets, emails and documents were about to come alive. Had we missed anything? Was there an elephant in the room that none of us had noticed?

 

The feeling of excitement and anxiety at times like this is a magical thing. You feel totally alive, yet completely vulnerable. No second chances, it has to go right the first time.

 

The preparation started with a major decampment from the office to the Filmhouse. Hundreds of goodie-bags, plus banners, leaflets for our table, T-shirts for volunteers, clipboards, voting forms, menus - our war-zone (usually just called the office) was quickly stripped of all the stuff that has given us a 'standing-room only' existence for the past week. Steve's poor car was groaning a bit as we set off.

 

Arrival at the Filmhouse went smoothly. The staff there are a delight to work with especially the wonderful Catherine, whose name I hope I've spelt correctly. Space was made available for storage, all requests were met cheerfully and quickly. Our volunteers arrived, and set to work with a will, much to the relief of Steve's suspension (talking about his car, people!).

 

At 7pm, I realised we were almost 30 minutes ahead of schedule. This wasn't right! What had been forgotten? A quick walk-around confirmed that we were, indeed, ahead of the plan. Next arrival was our trio of hip-hop dancers to entertain guests as they arrived. Smashing guys. They asked for a space to do their warm-ups, which was provided. Ten minutes later I popped back in to see how they were doing. All three were sitting texting away on their phones, and they informed me, without irony, that their warm-up would be completed in about five more minutes. I guess there must be an app for that nowadays. Assured that they would be unlikely to suffer any thumb injuries during the performance, I left them to it.

 

 

Guests were beginning to arrive in numbers, I kept asking myself "Why is this going so smoothly?" The dancers got started outside, and the volunteer team worked the street, handing out brochures and creating a buzz. No-one complained about the biting cold, we were even joined by Ama who insisted on helping despite being dressed in her best African dress - absolutely stunning, but almost entirely impractical for a Scottish winter evening. She sure got a lot of brochure requests though!

 

The PA was a little quiet, so I propped it up on the pillar to make it more audible down the street. We had a slight problem with people leaving the Filmhouse and walking across the dance area, so volunteers were positioned to guide people round it. Despite that, there were a few incursions - which led to possibly the highlight of the evening! Two ladies came out - I think mother and daughter. Mother was elderly, probably in her mid-80's, and wearing a luminous yellow coat. Walking with a stick, she struggled to get down the two steps to the pavement, which took her into our dancers area. In jest, I told her that if she stepped into that area, she would have to dance. Well! Away went the stick, and this lady had some moves! A proper show-stealer, she got easily the biggest cheer of the evening, and a 'we're not worthy' from the dancers. I'm told it's on film, it will undoubtedly be one of the images of our Festival, so keep an eye on our Facebook page.

 

This was probably the turning point in my feeling of apprehension. One little bit of magic occurs, and you just know everything is going to be fine. So it proved, due in full to the continued efforts of the volunteer team: in alphabetical order, Beata, Daisy, Dzhuli, Lena (Huang), Rob, Steve, and Vicky (Wei Wang). With amazing back-up at key points from Ama, Keith and Simon. It's difficult to express just how impressed I was with the team spirit and effort - there was not a weak link in the chain!

 

The dancers finished their routine with a stunning display, and we all got back inside to warm up. Guests were ushered upstairs to the auditorium - a full house! Isabel and Natalia made their speeches, the lights went down, and we were now properly under way. With a film! On a screen! It's a great moment when that happens, the defining point where everything becomes real.

 

No time for us to enjoy the film, though. After 15 minutes, we had to sneak out, and set up for the next phase. Food to be collected and taken to the reception. Banners to put up. And finally, we could be rid of the goodie-bags! They're a lovely feature of our festival, and so worth doing, but logistically and practically, such a heavy item to deal with.

 

The film finished, guests came out, were given their goodie-bag, and were guided to the Cargo Bar with the assistance of a human chain of volunteers who directed them at key points. My task was rapidly becoming easier, as once guests arrived at Cargo, organisational responsibility was passed to Aoife. Who, it hardly bears stating, had it all under control.

 

Then, thanks to two of our sponsors (Wines of South Africa, and Spoilt for Choice) we could serve them food and drink. There seemed to be enough to go round, we're pretty sure nobody missed out. And yes, we did wash our hands first!

 

After that, we were coasting to a finish. There was dancing, a fashion show, and some general clearing-up, but we could now bask in the satisfaction of getting our beloved Festival off to the best possible start. The smiles on guests faces as they were leaving told us about as much as we needed to know. Job Done!

 

(words by Dave Holmes)

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