The MADhurst procession in 2011, complete with ghost ship and giant caterpillar. Pictures: Kate Shemilt C111391The MADhurst procession in 2011, complete with ghost ship and giant caterpillar. Pictures: Kate Shemilt C111391
The MADhurst procession in 2011, complete with ghost ship and giant caterpillar. Pictures: Kate Shemilt C111391

MADhurst: The year of the giant ghost ship and a spontaneous burst of singing in Budgens

A roaring success. That was the verdict after nine days of solid entertainment courtesy of MADhurst in 2011, ending with a spectacular fireworks display at the Cowdray Ruins. There had been everything from learning to morris dance to a spontaneous burst of singing in Budgens supermarket, and everyone agreed it had brought the community alive.

“We have been overwhelmed with the positive response,” said Father Marcus Ronchetti, chairman of the MADhurst committee, at the time. “We really feel as if we have reached our goal, and celebrated a wide range of areas of creativity, and have developed community, and built relationships, and many people have tried things for the first time, and loved it.”

Attendance was well up on the previous year and the new events that had been introduced attracted good audiences. The grand finale began with a procession down North Street led by the Samboogie drumming band.

Behind them was an impressive array of floats, including the massive ghost ship made entirely of plastic drinking bottles and masterminded by Father Marcus’ son Adam, a giant smoking caterpillar and impressive cake made in the MADhurst arts and crafts workshops.

Midhurst Rugby Club members handed out balloons, and Rotherhill Nursery produced The Way We Were, with staff members sitting in a traditional vegetable patch of runner beans, sweetcorn, carrots and cabbages.