There’s been a significant change in atmosphere over the past few weeks here across the UK in general, but the weather in particular has most certainly taken a definite shift. As the colder months and darker nights begin to creep upon us, and the smell of spicy pumpkin soups and warming latte’s fill the air – so do quite a few new leisure and entertainment restrictions, plus some potential local lockdowns unfortunately too…
After a rather unusual summer already, and even more recent changes to social distancing within entertainment venues – with yet another new set of rules due to be announced later today – we now seem to be heading into even more uncertainty as we edge into the winter months ahead. One local Chichester vintage entertainer – Dawn Gracie – is keeping her spirits high however, and she’s come up with a fun and novel way to use bingo to help beat those blues.
The cabaret performer has teamed up with her local rugby club in Oaklands Park in Chichester, and she’s started a series of fun, socially distanced retro bingo nights. The first event took place last week live on the 9th October to great success, and there is now a spooky Halloween edition planned for Wednesday 28th.
This one will also be run virtually via Zoom though as well – which is mainly due to any potential entertainment restrictions that might lie ahead. It will open the event up for more people to get involved from home however too, and make it much more accessible to those who may be shielding/isolating etc as well. It’s a fun, retro, cabaret style, bingo and quiz night – for all. Go Dawn.
Retro Bingo With A Twist – And Social Distancing Of Course
Just last week Dawn hosted an evening of bingo, live entertainment, music and a quiz too, and the night sold out to huge success.
She’s now planning to offer the events on a more regular basis as we head into the winter months, with Zoom streaming put in place so that more people can join in the fun this time around.
According to a recent article in the Chichester Observer, Gracie said that the events are easily transferrable to a virtual Zoom format, and she feels it’s extremely important to keep people interacting during these uncertain times.
She told the Observer:
I feel very passionately about mental health, about the thought of loneliness. I want people to see human faces. I want people to connect. I want people to have that important connection with each other.
The aim of the night is to offer an evening of games, cabaret, music, food and drink, and to get people interacting – even if it is in a virtual setting.
She continued:
I admit bingo is something I have wanted to do for years. I couldn’t start up my cabaret club because for that you’ve got at least 12 people backstage and social distancing would be very difficult. I wanted to do something where people could feel safe and would be in their bubbles of 6.
The following rules have been put in place for each event to go ahead safely:
- Allocated tables with a minimum of 4, and maximum of 6 people who are in a social bubble.
- Table service for food and drinks.
- Dancing is not permitted.
- Track and Trace is in place upon arrival at the venue.
- Entry will be denied to anyone not compliant with the rules, or those who may pose a possible health risk to fellow patrons.
Is Zoom Bingo Now Set To Make A Comeback In The Winter Months Ahead?
Over the summer we saw endless amounts of virtual bingo events taking place all over the world during lockdown, and the game really did seem to bring friends, families and communities together during some pretty tough times.
Virtual communication took centre stage for us all, and bingo via Zoom became the new ‘night out’ for many. It’s uncertain as to what exactly lies ahead for the leisure and entertainment industries now moving forward as new social distancing measures come into play this week, but I’m guessing that we may see quite a few virtual bingo events cropping up again from now on.
Restrictions seem to be getting tighter as we head into a supposed second Covid wave here in the UK, and people are gonna need the fun factor more than ever as we head, with uncertainty, into the cold, winter months. We are much more prepared this time however, should a local lockdown situation ever occur, so virtual events should be much easier to set up this time around…