he’s really well and planning to come over next year, They still haven’t given him a name out there. so if anyone wants to suggest  a name for him

please email in suggestions, and you could win a sticker to stick on your own camel !

The Paddle Camel

And for those of you who want a Prone challenge we’ve got a cunning plan and will release the details soon.

For more information – entry forms, course, full rules etc either look at our website 14 mile SUP race here and 7 mile SUP Race here paddleroundthepier.com or email Ginny

Image stolen from Air Head Website without permission.

Not only do we have some superb local bands but also we will be having winners from Teenstar© and Reverbnation© to play on stage.

We have been guaranteed sunshine this year ( Ali has a close friendship with some weather gods ) and we will be doing Sussex by the Sea proud.
More info here : Saturday

More information will be found here : Swim Round the Pier

Our gigs are the culmination of six weeks of hard work by our 6 Week Band Course students, some of whom have never played on stage before.

So come sand along and see these super-talented kids in action performing popular songs by everyone from Led Zeppelin and The Beatles to Lady Gaga and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers! Always guaranteed a fun day out and a chance to see some of the young stars of tomorrow rockin’ out…

Website: http://rockschools-uk.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockschoolsuk

The team at Paddle Round the Pier would like to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU everyone involved with PRTP 2012. Despite the rain it was a great success and we couldn’t have done it without you.

So THANK YOU to all the bands and musicians who performed the festival last year :

ANGHARAD
BOY COM
BRIGHTON & HOVE CITY BRASS BAND
BUSTER SHUFFLE
CARNIVAL COLLECTIVE
COCO & THE BUTTERFIELDS (LIVE & UNSIGNED ACT)
COMMON TONGUES
DUNCAN DISORDERLY AND THE SCALLYWAGS
HALFWAY HOTEL
HOUSE OF HATS
JACKSON AND THE KING KICKERS
KINGS MEWS
LETZ ZEP
SASHI AND THE WILD BEANS
ROCK SCHOOL
SHOREHAM ALL STARS
SOUL OF THE CITY CHOIR
THE BEAUTIFUL WORD
WIDE EYED ORDER
WILLE AND THE BANDITS
ZORA AND THE TATSMITHS

Also THANK YOU to Buzz Electrics (www.buzzelectrics.com) who did a great job with the sound, Shoreham Allstars who kindly donated the back line, Harveys who provided the refreshments for the backstage area, Magpie (www.magpie.coop) who provided the furnishings and Tuaca who sponsored the stage.

If anyone is interested in being involved or performing at Paddle Round the Pier 2014 the application process starts September 2013. Please e-mail JenPaddle@hotmail.co.uk or come find Jen Paddle on facebook/twitter.

A massive thank you for being part of Live and Unsigned this year. It’s been an amazing tour we’ve given out so many prizes (over 100 festival slots) and given bands and acts a great platform to progress. Your help with judging is much appreciated, hopefully we’ll see you again for Open Mic UK or for next year’s Live and Unsigned.

Coco and the Butterfields from Canterbury beat more than 10,000 other acts to eventually win the biggest competition for original performers in the UK Live and Unsigned Grand Final on Saturday 14th July.
They performed in front of a sell-out audience at Proud2 within The O2, having their prize presented to them by Radio One DJ Ras Kwame who was judging the event.
Along with other prizes, they will receive £10,000 worth of publicity investment, an animated music video, a band app development and an incredible 18 date summer festival tour including a trip to Tour Fest in Rome. Describing the victory, they claimed “It hasn’t really sunk in yet! We’ve got so much out of the competition… In each round we’ve won something, now we’ve won the whole thing, it’s amazing.”
Along with Ras Kwame, other judges on the day included: Kerrang! Unsigned presenter Alex Baker, Kiss FM Breakfast Presenter Charlie Hedges, NME New Music Editor Matt Wilkinson, one half of Artful Dodger Mark Hill, Universal A&R man Solomon Penumuchi, Metal Hammer’s Dayal Patterson and Si Hulbert who produces for Ed Sheeran & One Direction.
Events Director of Live & Unsigned Chris Grayston commented: “this is a fantastic achievement for Coco and the Butterfields. They’re definitely the most original winner we’ve ever had. They beat a massive pool of talent on the day to take the £10,000 which they can spend on development as they like. They festival tour will be an incredible experience for them too and a great way of getting their name out there even further!”
Coco and the Butterfields formed less than a year ago, but have since amassed a huge following both locally and on facebook. They feature a lineup of Dulcima Showan (vocals & violin), Tom Twyman (acoustic guitar & vocals), Jamie Smith (beatbox), Micah Hyson (double bass) and James Todd (banjo), having all met on the Canterbury busking circuit. Despite their increasingly busy gig calendar they are still regularly spotted busking all over the city together, not to mention driving around the South East in their colourful bandwagon, “Ron”.
Their unusual lineup has given rise to their genre-crossing brand of ‘Fip Fok’ (a combination of Hip-Hop, Folk and Pop). The band are committed to breaking down genre barriers by playing catchy originals and inventive covers in a style that everyone can enjoy. It has proven very successful thus far, with local record producer Dan Lucas claiming they have “managed the almost impossible task of creating a sound that is almost entirely unique.” It looks like winning Live and Unsigned may be just the start for the Fip Fok band.
You can catch Coco and the Butterfields at Stockton Weekender, Strawberry Fields Festival, Relentless Energy Boardmasters, Edinburgh Fringe, Festibelly, Glass Butter Beach, Just So Festival, Bingley Music Live, Brownstock, Sundown, Shrewsbury Fields Forever Festival, Deafbox Fest, Brisfest, London Summer Jam and Lancaster Music Festival.

Coco and the Butterfields – Winners

www.facebook.com/liveandunsigneduk

www.twitter.com/LiveandUnsigned

Last weekend (Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 July) saw the Paddle Round The Pier Beach Festival take place once again in Brighton. Whilst the rain had an obvious effect on attendance, organisers are delighted to have once again raised thousands of pounds for this year’s charities – the RNLI, Winston’s Wish and Surf Action.

Dave Samuel, event director said: “Thank you to everyone for venturing out in what were far from favourable conditions this year to attend the Paddle Round The Pier.

“To have around 20,000 people attend an event in that weather was testament to the affection that the Paddle holds in people’s hearts.

“I said at the beginning of the weekend (with the forecast due) that if we made £15,000 profit for the charities then I would be happy and it looks like we have done just that!

“My heartfelt thanks go out to all the exhibitors for sticking with us and our sponsors for getting behind us, plus obviously to all those volunteers who selflessly give up their time each year to make this tremendous event happen.

Despite the rain the event (said to be the biggest free beach festival in the World) carried on regardless, with a huge host of activities taking place.

Just one of the crowd pullers was the “Paddle Something Unusual’ raft race. Sam Swanson, who co-ordinated it said: “The crafts this year were varied: a birthing pool, a seaweed draped frame, a DeLorean car, a cricket pitch and many more.

“They heroically made their way around the course much to the amusement of competitors and crowd alike, whilst the water safety crew kept a vigilant eye.

“The winners were the Co-operative Funeral Care Brighton Team who are annual entrants.”

The Maritime Marathon, a gruelling 26 mile paddle race saw Andrew ‘Milky’ Byatt win the prone division in a time of 3 hours 30 minutes; Ryan Jones win the 14’ SUP division in 4 hours 54 minutes; and Mark Slater win the 12’ SUP division in 5 hours 2 minutes.

The Paddle Round The Pier Festival 2013 takes place on 6th & 7th July, with enquiries already coming in for exhibitors looking to book again and bands who want to play.

Photos courtesy of Deana

Many thanks to Swimtrek and Swim Brighton for coordinating and running these events which had a great many entrants.
Photos available for purchase on the Sharkbait Surf Shop

All photos taken by Monsieur Chris Beasley who is a floater