Info for minimalists

Come! Postcode is BS23 4XU. Please follow this link for directions (pref on foot). Bring evening snacks. See you there x

Info for mediumalists

• Sat 13 Sep: 2pm until closing time (bar will likely close at 11.30pm-midnight). It’s on a beach, so, later lingering is possible

• Location here: Weston Bay Yacht Club Clubhouse, on the beach, at the mouth of the river Axe, near Uphill. The approach is via Uphill Village, not via Weston-super-Mare proper.

• Day: kids welcome. Beach games - please bring more - and lounging in the day from 2pm.

• Lunch: bring your own picnic lunch if you haven’t already eaten - beach mats available to borrow.

• If the weather looks ropy/ rainy but you’re coming anyway and you have one: please bring a gazebo to help us stay outside

• Dinner 7pm/8pm/ grazing: bring a sharing dish for the buffet if you can. Truly don’t worry if you can’t, there will be food. Tuck in. 

• Night: party inside, Silent Disco outside, music, and probably fire…

• Please park elsewhere and walk the last bit to the venue if poss, to leave space on the sand near the building for our beach games. More on parking below.

• Swimming: it’s not wholly out of the question though the tide won’t be near until 9pm+. Bring togs and towel if you like That Sort of Thing.

Info for maximalists

Daytime

High tide is 11.36am in the morning so the tide will be OUT OUT from 1pm onwards (it’ll make a reappearance around 9pm on its way back in for an 11.36pm high tide). All welcome any time from 2pm for daytime fun on the beach. Partners, children, and well-behaved (preferably curly) dogs welcome. This does feel a bit early but I know that some folk with families are only coming for the daytime. We’ll be there anyway so if you arrive early, great. Bring your own lunch if coming for the daytime. We’re hoping for good weather (but it could be shit weather!) and are planning for beach volleyball, boules, Kubb, Mölki, other games – bring other games – lounging around, and music (perhaps with an early visit to the Silent Disco for those brave enough).

The clubhouse bar will be open from 2pm for cold and hot drinks – normal not fancy coffee: Bristolians, adjust your expectations – and bar snacks like nuts and crisps. There are loos in the clubhouse. We’ll erect a gazebo/ event shelter or two outside, but if the weather is looking bad, games will obviously be trickier and there’ll be a lot of people in a small space! If you have one and are able to, perhaps bring your own gazebo so we can try to stay outside as much as possible. If it’s super bad weather, I will judge no-one for staying away for this bit of the day and for entertaining yourself elsewhere in Weston.

If you have kids and are visiting from afar – head to Weston’s Marine Lake for a bit if you want to swim… the tide’s always in there. The early (11.36am) tide will be swimmable from the main beach from around 10.30am until 12pm/ 12.30pm ish.

Evening

Around 7pm we’ll re-dress the scene - and perhaps ourselves, who knows - for evening. Outside, think Thai-styled beach bar (without any of the heat, mosquitoes, or ultra-violet body paint), rattan beach mats and low tables scattered on the sand – if the weather is good. I’ve got a Silent Disco coming for outside and actual, audible music for inside. The bar at the Yacht Club is very cheap so please do send your fine custom its way to support them (the gig rowing club I’m with is affiliated to the yacht club). If you want to bring some extra tinnies for once the bar closes and we want to stay on the beach for a bit longer and a campfire, no worries. The building has Wifi and takes cash or card. I think last orders will be 11.30pm/ midnight all going well. Fewer children in the evening will probably be best/ safer, as it starts to gets darker and the tide comes in and there may be fires. So if you can offload the cherubs/ dogs/ other encumbrances for the night time: do.

Playlists/ Music for the Silent Disco

If you leave it to me (and Kate Jones), it’ll be Kylie and Shakira on a loop all night. So, if you have awesome playlists either for the main music inside or for a silent disco channel slot, please share the playlist with me so I can work up some kind of running order.

Dinner – bring a sharing dish if you can

I’ve been pondering this and, well, can’t feed you all! So, if you are in a position to, please bring a sharing dish for the buffet room (if you could label it and any allergens that would be really appreciated). If your arms will be loaded up with Kids and Stuff, or you’re cycling or coming straight from a train, or any of that jazz, don’t worry about bringing anything, there will be enough as I’ll also provide a goodly amount of food. You will not go hungry.  

Venue and parking

See the diagram below. It’s at Weston Bay Yacht Club clubhouse (again, location here). Postcode BS23 4XU. Accessed from Links Rd in the village of Uphill just south of Weston. It’s a wooden building on stilts, on the beach, at the very southern end of the beach. Please park elsewhere and then walk to the venue if you possibly can. You can drive all the way to it, but then there’ll be less room around the building for the outdoor bits of the party. So unless you really need to (because you’re bringing a gazebo, or a Full Family, or lots of kit or food etc), it would be ace if you could park nearby and walk over instead – or drive stuff over, ditch the stuff, then park back in Uphill etc. Just trying to keep our own vehicle movements to a minimum.

You can park in the streets around Links Road or on the sand itself at Uphill Beach carpark. Please note: the gates to Uphill Beach Carpark will be locked by the Beach Rangers at 8pm, so there will be limited opportunities to drive off the beach after 8pm. One of us with a key can head round to let people out in batches if they need to leave a bit later.

For anyone who does drive to the venue, please park just above (just before) the clubhouse to leave the space below (just after) it free. High tide is not until 11.36pm and it’s not a huge tide but I don’t recommend leaving your car anywhere on the beach overnight.

Local accommodation

Try the usual suspects like AirBnB and booking.com. There’s also the Uphill Marina Touring Park, see image above, which might have space for vans. Other vanners, let me know if you want some ideas of places to park for the night. My home address is Flat 2, 4 Albert Road, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1ES, if you wanted to get anywhere near (and along the sides of Ellenborough Park near my flat is generally a safe bet for overnighting). If anyone is really stuck let me know – there’s always camp-style on floors or we’ve got a few vans between us you might be able to sleep in ;)

TO BRING: a recap!

• Beach stuff if you need it - rattan mats will be available

• Lunch/ afternoon snacks if you’re coming earlier in the afternoon

• A sharing dish if you’re coming in the evening (if you can’t, honestly don’t worry)

• Any fun beach games/ activities that we can set up and play in the day

• Silent Disco/ normal disco playlists - share with me in advance

• If you have any battery-powered or solar LED string lights to add to the collection for the evening, feel free to bring

Sunday morning

I like the idea of a walk in the area/ out to one of the headlands, so if you’re staying around, and want to join in with that, let me know and I’ll keep you in the loop. Not crazy early, mind, perhaps starting at 11am…

I think that’s it. LMK if you have any other questions (WhatsApp is probably best) and I REALLY CAN’T WAIT to see you x