International Western Skills Festival grows and grows !!

Building on the success of the 1st International Western Skills  Festival that Peter organised last year, a fantastic team of volunteers staged a sell out Festival in Swansea this February, with over 50 guests and tutors from around the world, including America, The Czech Republic and even Iceland!

Featuring whip cracking, gun spinning, fast draw , lasso, knife and axe throwing workshops, this year also saw "Bow Tag" (think Paintball with bows and arrows!!) all of which we are delighted to be able to offer at your event, plus  mini lasso making, safe use of Replica Firearms talks, whip making, whip and lasso shows, a dance with a live band and all topped off by the presence of The Bandoleros re-enactment group who we will be working with again at Wild West Shows this Summer !  For more information contact Peter at ahandfulofhats@gmail.com or 07875 826773  

Fully Booked for the Summer Season!

We wish... :-) but after a very successful meeting with this country's' most popular Park and some other delightful enquiries, a number of Bank Holiday weekends starting in March are now booked for themed Family Fun Days, including Wild West Shows, A Victorian Day Out, A Grand Picnic, Alice in Wonderland,  Medieval Jousting, Classic Car Shows and Vintage Fairs with a proposalfor some brand new themes for next year having been accepted too .. exciting times.

So, if you need ideas for unique event and family fun day themes, don't hesitate to drop us a line, ahandfulofhats@gmail.com . Peter has a portfolio of great ideas with the performers you need to make it all happen and although the summer bookings are coming in nicely we have some dates still available, so get the lead out and write! or ring me on 07875 826773  .

Taster Ideas

How about " Dads Army! or Fun with Flags! or Space Wars and this year Pete is getting his most colourful headdress out and practising his Salsa for a " A Day in Rio" for a fantastic Village Fete in the Vale of Glamorgan that he looks forward to every year     

A trip to Bath? don't mind if we do!

Bath University host one of the earliest in the year Juggling Conventions on the Circus calendar, with a full day of workshops, lovely people and plenty of space to practice, it's the ideal place to blow away the winter cobwebs and work on your new act. A joy to meet up with some of the hardest working performers in Europe with Steve White, our personal hero, Steve Rawlings and his talented son Jay showing us all that to be the best relies on practice practice ... and more practice.   

A Cowboy Party at Windsor Castle?

( Golf Club) .... Don't mind if we do ... looks like we are off to do Meet and greet and Pecan Pete Wild West Shows in the Royal Borough very soon , bookings fort the Western Entertainment are coming in very nicely with large shows lined up for the Bank Holidays later on in the year.  

New premises for the circus!

With Christmas firmly packed away it has been a busy busy January and February finishing off and  moving into the new stores, workshop and offices, the replacement for the old wooden sheds is so posh we're  tempted to call it The Stables.. :-) and now we are busy waxing the whips and sharpening the knives, ready for The 2nd International Western Skills Festival here in South Wales at the end of February, there are limited tickets available so hurry up pardners and come on down!!

He's checked it twice !

Hundreds of children and their delighted parents visited the flagship National Trust property of Duffryn House and Gardens to visit that special person and ensure he had their names on the right list, for some, promises had to be made, for others made decorations and present lists to present personally, for all involved, great fun was had.     

““Just the most super experience, utterly convincing, enormous fun and what a fantastic setting, you don’t often find Father Christmas in his own Victorian Living Room either , Thank you so much .. ”
— Mr&Mrs Bell, Lizzy, Fay and Owen : Monmouth
““ Never seen the children so delighted! Thank you so much! ”
— Mrs J Hadden, Llanishen
““ It was so nice that the whole of the Irish Dance Team could visit him at the same time and that he joined in the dancing, such fun! “ ”
— O'Connor School of Dance

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A marvellous Victorian time was had at our local High Street here in sunny Barry with the appearance of the effervescent "Mr Charles Bubbles Esquire" for the initial illumination of the Christmas street decorations, blessed as they are with the miracle of electrickery lighting,  the citizens of this famous maritime port took to the streets in their hundreds of thousands to applaud the efforts of Mr Bubbles  from www.ahandfulofhats.co.uk  and to welcome the advent of the Christmas Celebrations. disregarding the inclement weather there was nare a humbug to be seen! Huzzah!  

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast

Sometimes you have to take the rough with the smooth....I was asked to train an actor to portray a circus knife thrower .for an upcoming  film that I am delighted to be part of .. he'll be my doppelganger then... a bit like me then , maybe a bit chunky, a little wizened , then I met Crystal, .. its a tough life being a whip cracking knife thrower .. but someone has to do it  

A Handful of Hats in Country Life magazine this week...

A Handful of Hats in Country Life magazine this week...

An article extolling the virtues of wearing hats has to be encouraged in our mind, some lovely examples shown and not all we possess , one can never have too many hats in our humble opinion

New toys

New toys

Time for a restock and the whip workshop inventory gets a well deserve boost with a pair of Indiana Jones bull whips made by that charming Frenchman, Jeanphillippe Sartourian from St Etienne , if you want some for yourself or want how to learn how to make or crack whips please get in touch.

It's an actors life for me!

Thrilled to be asked to contribute in a short film Produced and Directed by the Doyeness of Film and TV, the irrepressible, fabulous Amanda Mealing star of Casualty, Holby City, Strike Back , Four Wedding and a Funeral

I don't normally do Birthday parties , but when I do .....

An enormous thank you to Ruth and Ellie , I had the pleasure of entertaining at their 6th birthday and to be asked to their 18th was special. A hat tip to all your fab friends and I'm sorry I made a couple spill their drinks.. but I did warn them :-)  

“Everyone has said how much they enjoyed it and your entertaining certainly made it an 18th to remember :-) ”
— Ruth and Ellie


I don't normally do Birthday Parties.... but when I do they tend to be special .....

I don't normally do Birthday Parties.... but when I do they tend to be special .....

A few years ago , I was delighted to entertain these two young ladies and their friends on what I think was their 8th birthday, ten years later we get to do it again, they've grown prettier and much taller since then and as both are now martial arts experts what better way to celebrate their 18th birthday is a whip cracking, knife throwing, fire eating and balloon modelling party this evening .

Will thee dance a quadrille for me ?

Will thee dance a quadrille for me ?

Extraordinary Medieval wedding celebrations in Hampshire for a charming couple on Sunday, lavish surroundings and fantastic fare,

were just part of a busy evening of merriment, joined by English Heritages' own official Jester, courtly singers, musicians, dancers and a contortionist,  Merlyne "the ever so scary" was renamed by no less than the Groom himself as "Merlyne the Magnificent"

Accompanied by his faithless servant Droole the Foole they provided a dazzling display of cannon ball juggling and  tests of courage for the Best Men with stunts that froze grown men into statues before theguests eyes.    

Your act was fabulous, thank you so much, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it , even the Best Man!   Liz BettsTLC

 

The boys are back in town!

The boys are back in town!

This coming Thursday Peter and Gerreint are cowboying up for thirty corporate guests for an afternoon of whip cracking , lasso spinning and knife throwing and if they are very good they'll get to play with the bowies and Colt 45's too.

Christmas is coming!

Christmas is coming!

A reminder to all fans of quality traditional Santa's that the bookings are coming in already and we only have limited dates now available, so please do get in touch for your copy of the Christmas brochure.

Welcome to Charlie Atlas, all the way from Glasgow

Welcome to Charlie Atlas, all the way from Glasgow

This week we played host to Charlie Atlas from The Death Do us Part Danger Show for two days of refresher training and performance development for new whip cracking and knife throwing aspects of their spectacular shows.