If the Summer's good, and especially if the Zippy weather isnt, the Dionysian Underground* may organise The Other Picnic a few weeks later, a Parallel phenomenon with a similar but slightly different ethos.
Watch out for info here...
*The Dionysian Underground was formed in 1997 as an anarcho-situationist, countercultural esoteric euro-voodoo international raising the Dionysian spirit and rebirthing Sparticus...
16.5.11
Some Departed Picnicers
And lets not forget some of the Picnicers who've since joined Fraser.
Brian Barritt : http://www.higgs1.demon.co.uk/barritt/who.htm
and a one time attender (to my knowledge) Ion Will (countercultural magus and ghostwriter for Lyall Watson among many other things).
as as well as Brian Visiondanz, who was always invited but alas never quite made it
http://www.facebook.com/visiondans?ref=ts
Brian Barritt : http://www.higgs1.demon.co.uk/barritt/who.htm
and a one time attender (to my knowledge) Ion Will (countercultural magus and ghostwriter for Lyall Watson among many other things).
as as well as Brian Visiondanz, who was always invited but alas never quite made it
http://www.facebook.com/visiondans?ref=ts
What is a Zippy?
Fraser had many definitions, 'A Hippy with Zip', 'a Zen inspired Pronoiac* Person', the 'New Yippies' or just fans of Zippy the Pinhead! But the core note was a Counterculture initially unified in the Rave and Alternative Party Scene, the hippies and ravers, the hardcore and fluffcore united in Psychedelia. Its long since evolved into a term for any Upwinger fed up with Dinosaur society and looking for real alternative company.
*Pronoia, the pleasant delusion that someone out there is out to help you...
*Pronoia, the pleasant delusion that someone out there is out to help you...
A brief history of the Picnic
Hampstead Heath has been a countercultural gathering place for the Community since the 60s and I'm told the site of the Picnic has its own history long before the Zippies first camped there in 1989. Initially a celebration of the launch of Fraser Clarke's Encyclopedia Psychedelica, its become an annual Zippy event and is now in its 23rd year!
Always held on the first weekend in June, so people know when it's on even when not in contact (its been known for people to return after a gap of many years just on spec), the picnic has seen a variety of guests over the years, from visionary poets through alternative film makers to Mayan shaman, but its always been what Fraser called 'the People's Picnic' a Happening for Everyone.
Technically the Picnic is a Potlach, what you get is what you bring to share, food, drink, musical instruments (acoustic only of course!), games, gizmos, whatever gear you fancy. There is no host as such just a few people who help it happen, you are the Picnic, do your own thing.
The Picnic has ranged from several hundred people to a dozen or so each year, depending on the weather, the mood and whatevers going on, in recent years its been a more intimate gathering, and in many ways all the better for that, some years have been a quiet chill, the kind Fraser used to call the 'Nothing' Happening, at other times spontaneous events have included the mass ritualised circle reading of Ginsberg's 'Howl' (complete with howling dog encore). Its always been both a reunion and a place to make new friends a happy happening.
With Fraser's death in 2009 some of us feared the picnic would end, but it goes on facillitated by those who enjoyed its many happy memories.
Always held on the first weekend in June, so people know when it's on even when not in contact (its been known for people to return after a gap of many years just on spec), the picnic has seen a variety of guests over the years, from visionary poets through alternative film makers to Mayan shaman, but its always been what Fraser called 'the People's Picnic' a Happening for Everyone.
Technically the Picnic is a Potlach, what you get is what you bring to share, food, drink, musical instruments (acoustic only of course!), games, gizmos, whatever gear you fancy. There is no host as such just a few people who help it happen, you are the Picnic, do your own thing.
The Picnic has ranged from several hundred people to a dozen or so each year, depending on the weather, the mood and whatevers going on, in recent years its been a more intimate gathering, and in many ways all the better for that, some years have been a quiet chill, the kind Fraser used to call the 'Nothing' Happening, at other times spontaneous events have included the mass ritualised circle reading of Ginsberg's 'Howl' (complete with howling dog encore). Its always been both a reunion and a place to make new friends a happy happening.
With Fraser's death in 2009 some of us feared the picnic would end, but it goes on facillitated by those who enjoyed its many happy memories.
Video of first ever Zippy Picnic 1989
Hopefully that link still works I dont currently have enough memory to check it
http://www.marcuspennell.com/stuff/zippi
http://www.marcuspennell.com/stuff/zippie_picnic_june_1989.wmv
4.5.11
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