Location: Holland-on-Sea
Red Arrows Spotted: 9 (wow those things are fast!)
Rewards Given: Too many to count!
Ahoy everyone!
Oh, have I got a great entry for you today… You didn’t think I’d miss one of the biggest events in Tendring this year, did you? On Thursday 26th and Friday 27th August, the Clacton 150 Anniversary Flights took place to celebrate the town’s 150th birthday this year – what a milestone!
One of our Octopus Ahoy! sponsors, Surya Hotels, who own the Kingscliff Hotel in Holland-on-Sea were in a party mood too and were kind enough to invite me and the gang over on both days to get involved in their Family Fun Days – which gave the team a great base for a couple of afternoons to hand out (tentacle out?) some amazing rewards to our app users.
And you know me, any excuse to get out and meet my adoring public…
We had some cute little octopus keyrings to hand out (it was hard to part ways with the little fellas!) which were a huge hit with one and all… as well as some more Pink Parrot Pottery vouchers, giving octopus hunters the chance to get creative and paint and glaze some items in a free session. I could barely contain my excitement when I saw that, once we arrived, there was already a queue waiting for me!
The app users had been working hard seeking out octopus sculptures this summer, so it felt wonderful to be able to give them a freebie or two… I felt so fuzzy inside seeing the excitement and smiling faces, I almost would have thought I was warm blooded!
Visitors and staff alike had a fantastic couple of afternoons, and we were thrilled to be a part of it all… enjoying the live music, food and drink, bouncy castle (another first for me!) and face painting (many a face was decorated in an octopus theme, I’m flattered to say). Such a sense of community and fun, and so wonderful to see everyone so happy together.
This is before I even mention what really took the air out of my gills… the flypast itself. I’d been told the famous Red Arrows were something very special and gilly gosh, what a sight, what sounds and what a spectacle. It was astounding watching them surging through the sky in perfect formation leaving colour patterns behind them… those are some next-level skills! And that speed – it was like watching a shoal of sailfish shoot by! I wonder if I can recreate anything like that when I’m back in the sea… I think I’d better start saving my energy.
All in all, a totally splashing couple of afternoons – truly the perfect way to celebrate 150 years of Clacton-on-Sea and all of the wonderful people that live there. If you popped by and grabbed a keyring or voucher (or both!), we hope you’ll love them.
The team at the Kingscliff Hotel really helped made these past two days very special, and our little crew and I felt so looked after… we can’t thank them enough for making us feel so welcome.
You can find more photos from both days on our social media platforms – why not follow our hashtag, #octopusahoy, to keep an eye on all the shenanigans?