Desk Chair Disco - Wunderbar Festival, Newcastle
On Friday 4 November 2011 we witnessed the first ever Desk Chair Disco take place in Newcastle! City dwellers were offered the opportunity to redress their life / work balance by reclaiming their ordinary office furniture and taking it out on the town.As part of Wunderbar festival, Sports Day were invited to take over an empty office unit in the Pandon Building and put on this 'roller disco with a difference'. The evening featured disco lights, DJ sets, live music and daring Desk Chair Derby displays courtesy of the Newcastle Roller Girls!
Before the party kicked off, a group of intrepid revellers marked the end of the working week in style by assembling in BALTIC square with their chairs in tow. Freewheeling across the Millennium Bridge they paraded through the quayside to the disco site. View images >
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got that Friday feeling?
Desk Chair Parade - Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
On Sunday 2 August 2009 the inaugural Desk Chair Parade took place in Manchester. A group of willing volunteers - office workers, shoppers and gallery goers alike - embarked on a magnificent adventure, freewheeling through the streets on ordinary office chairs.The group journeyed up Deansgate, through the city to the newly opened business hub known as Spinningfields, where as the grand finale, four participants were selected to take part in a Desk Chair Dash. Outside the Royal Bank of Scotland and Natwest headquarters we held a sprint finish desk chair race where Robert our fastest wheeler won a special medal.
The Desk Chair Parade took place as part of We are the Champions - Castlefield Gallery's 25th Anniversary celebrations in July - August 2009. View images >
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get ready to go wheely crazy!
Olympic Ring Doughnut Eating Contest - Burgess Park London
The Sports Day Olympic Ring Doughnut Eating Contest 2007 took place on Saturday 15 September at Burgess Park in south London as part the second Artists' Sports Day organised by Grunts for the Arts.The contest was open to five gutsy competitors. The challenge was to eat five ring doughnuts, arranged in the Olympic Ring configuration, in the fastest time possible. The winner was brave Mark who managed a remarkable time of 2 minutes 9 seconds. He was followed closely by Steve, Helena and Hannah who all battled through until their plates were empty. After a full 6 minutes munching, Lyn was forced to retire with one-and-a-half doughnuts left. Mark was proud to take home the prestigious Sports Day golden medal (along with a small amount of indigestion).
The Artists' Sports Days are organised as a protest against the recent siphoning off of 35% or the Arts Council Grants for the Arts funds in order to pay for the 2012 Olympics. View images >
hmm... don't they look tasty
Artists' Dance Off - Hackney Marshes London
The Sports Day Artists' Dance Off 2007 took place on Saturday 26 May on Hackney Marshes in east London as part the Artists' Sports Day organised by Grunts for the Arts.16 brave contestants battled it out in a series of head-to-head knock out dancing rounds. They each had 30 seconds to impress the audience with their most outrageous moves, to out dance their competitor and make it one step closer to lifting that much coveted Dance Off trophy. After several exhausting hours, lots of fun and a fair bit of rain we finally had a winner - El the master dancer from London.
The Artists' Sports Day was organised as a protest against the recent siphoning off of 35% or the Arts Council Grants for the Arts funds in order to pay for the 2012 Olympics. View images >
The first dance gets underway
Bouncy Boxing Championships - NAN-NANA Nottingham
Sports Day made their first public outing at the NAN-NANA - New Adventures in Networking event held in Nottingham on 28 - 30 April 2006.Sports Day's contribution to the event was to host the first annual Bouncy Boxing Championships. 16 lucky competitors were chosen from amongst the 60 attending delegates to take part in the contest. Four nail-biting, knock-out rounds later and a champion emerged - Paul Luckraft of The Royal Standard, Liverpool was awarded much sought after 'silver glove' trophy.
The event took place as part of the weekend's programme of activities, at the Victoria Leisure Centre, Nottingham on Sunday 30 April 2006. View images >
Preparing for the Championships
Arm Wrestling Contest - ICA London
The 18 March 2006, saw the ultimate sporting face off between Sports Day founders Adele Prince and Ellie Harrison at the ICA London. The impromptu arm wrestling contest took place in the ICA Bar following Adele and Ellie's appearances at the Day-to-Day Data Symposium in Cinema Two earlier that day.Refereed by artist Tim Taylor, it was a gruelling match that went to a full three rounds. Ellie took the first two 'right arm' wrestles to give her a flying start. Adele then made a dramatic come-back taking the final 'left arm' wrestle after an arduous five minutes tussling (see roll-over image opposite. Referees decision: A draw - rematch in 2007!
