Koi

I was privileged this year to have full access to the setting up of this year's BKKS National Koi Show at Stafford. I was surprised at how few people were actively involved in setting up the Show and this little blog is dedicated to this group of people who give up many days of their valuable time to create and run the shows that we love to attend.

Arriving at the Koi Show

I arrived at the showground on the Thursday but by this time the bulk of the centre ring was set up and that vats were starting to be filled. This was the first time at the new showground, so there were numerous little teething problems that had to be resolved.

Friday is the day the excitement mounts as the first fish start to arrive as do the dealers (and of course Koi magazine too) that come to set up their stands. As the fish arrive the time is logged so that the fish can be debagged in the order they arrive. 

Debagging involves removing the fish from the bag but not the water in the bag; straightforward with little fish but challenging with some of the big ladies.

From debagging next comes benching. Three benching teams were used, the first job is to establish that the fish is fully healthy. Fish that are not have to leave the Show. Once the health threshold has been passed, the fish is sized and the show class assigned, normally straightforward but sometime not so simple! The final benching task is photographing the Koi. The owner has to be present during benching and once it is complete they have to sign off the benching form. The camera memory card is then popped into an envelope with the benching form and passed to the administration team.

With all the fish now in the vats, continuous water testing is conducted and, where appropriate, water changes are carried out, this activity will continue until all the fish have gone.  I left the showground at around 9pm on the Friday but spare a thought for the Night Team. All the vats need to be covered and these people will be checking the vats all night. This has to be one of the most thankless and unseen tasks – well done to them.

All those benching forms need then to be processed so that the benching lists and vat cards can be produced. These people are locked away in the Show Office and spend many hours sorting this out.

First day of the Show

Saturday morning soon comes and all of a sudden the Show opens. Judging is the next big task and this is a process that takes several hours, with the judging groups scuttling backwards and forward from vat to vat to compare and contrast the various classes and categories. Best to keep out of their way!

Saturday comes and goes with the water teams working away and another stint for the night team. Overnight at the Dinner Dance the results are announced with several very happy people spending the night in great Koi company celebrating their success.

On Sunday all the results have to be put on the vat cards before the doors open. The time for the presentations comes around all to soon but not before all the prizes have been set out.

Blimey the show is now over and debenching commences with all the owners rebagging their fish and loading them into their caravans. Now all the fish are gone dismantling the show can now commence. Again it is the same people that built the show that get the utterly thankless task of putting it all away for next year.

Blood, sweat and tears

All throughout the whole show process the guys and girls working need to be fed and watered and this was done this year by two great volunteers.

Having seen the amount of works that this band of volunteers perform I would applaud each and everyone of them.

Now I love Koi Shows – I meet with so many friends and see so many great fish but it was disappointing to see how few of us hobbyists made the effort to attend. These Shows are expensive to run whether it is the National or a Section show. If we do not put in the effort to attend and pay our entrance fees then this Show, and others, will die.

KOI SHOWS NEED VISITORS – PLEASE MAKE THE EFFORT TO KEEP OUR SHOWS GOING.

Donald Gibbs, Koi hobbyist

All my photographs from this years National may be seen in the BKKS National 2010 Photo Gallery on the BKKS website. http://www.bkks.co.uk/galleries/category/17.

All photos and content are the property of Donald Gibbs in conjunction with Koi magazine, and must not be used for any other purpose without express permission from the writer.