Sasha Celebration Weekend 2017 - part 3

We're safely home after a super weekend with Sasha friends at the Eastwood Hotel in Nottingham.  I wasn't able to blog much over the weekend - too busy chatting, running a craft workshop, enjoying the raffle and sales.  Also the blogging app on the ipad was incredibly unstable so my first two posts were very short (and took an age to create!).  I'm wondering if this was as a result of worldwide cyber attacks on Friday or just a rubbish app!

This blog post is about Friday evening.  As I explained in part 1, we had delays on the journey so missed all the afternoon chatting.  We were so late we walked into the hotel with the two bags of dolls, checked in then went to the meeting area and 5 minutes later we were all being ushered into our dinner hall, so we didn't have time to go to our room until later.

Amy, Edmund and Timothy joined us for dinner

After a lovely dinner catching up with Jocelyn, Emma, Laura and Paula while my girl made a new friend (the only other child at the Sasha Celebration event), we went to the 2 halls to set up the National/Regional/International doll display and the My Favourite Sasha displays. We were greeted by the wonderful sight of Karin's Maypole dancers display which were already set up on a round table (with a green table cloth) in the corner alongside the national costume display table.

Karin's Maypole and dancers

The Maypole dancers and some of the International costumes display on Friday evening

I had made 3 related costumes for the display (there was no limit on entries) and had made use of some of the fabric I had bought in Cape Town from Mnandi Textiles.  I had also used some of the shweshwe fabric to make a raffle prize.  My three dolls to enter were Reuben, dressed as a Basotu boy (Lesotho), Melanie dressed as a Xhosa girl and Nina dressed in play dress, hat and panties set.  I was pleased to see they weren't the only dolls to feature Africa as there was a boy dressed as a Zulu warrier (a spectacular costume).  I'll write more about my dolls African costumes in another post.

Dolls start to arrive in the International display on Friday evening

Melanie, Reuben and Nina near the Zulu on Friday evening

Some amazing costumes and dolls in the International display on Friday night

The United Kingdom (Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland) on the Friday evening

Peggy's Iranian/Persian girl with eyes repainted by Janet

A very pretty girl (which country/region?) alongside a Dutch girl

The Greek representatives

The dramatic Zulu boy - he looks so proud and brave

Some lovely dolls in Bavarian style costumes

Such a lovely hairstyle for this girl

A Swiss costumed baby with repainted eyes

The Pearly King, Scottish War watcher and Brazilian Samba Queen

We set up Laura and Florence on the My Favourite Sasha display in the other room, where the £1 bazaar was taking place.  My girl had been saving her pocket money and allowed herself exactly one purchase from the bazaar (2 lovely stretchy maroon scarves).

The £1 bazaar on Friday night

Gradually more dolls were added to both displays which were using the doll stands which Kendal had donated after her Kendal's Sasha Brood display at the 2016 Celebration weekend.  I had made 3 doll stands for our dolls (we already had one), in the event Laura and Florence shared one of Kendal's stands, and in the International display Peggy's Iranian/Persian girl used one of my stands and when one of Karin's maypole dancers proved unsteady on her feet she used my green felt lined doll stand (which matched the table cloth) to help her keep upright for the remainder of the weekend.  I had made that doll stand for my 2012 Dress a Sasha entry at the Stratford upon Avon Sasha Festival.

A glorious Studio girl in the My Favourite Sasha display

Florence and Laura at the back of the My Favourite Sasha display on Friday night

Soon it was time to say goodnight and dream of an exciting Sasha day ahead.