I won't bore you with all that I've done, not done and wished that I'd done but instead I'll focus on my visit to Sparkle in the Summer in July.
Sparkle takes place in the Trans-friendly city of Manchester (UK) on the first or second weekend in July each year. It is billed as a major TG event and over time the number of girls attending has increased significantly. While there are a few organised events that take place in a local park it is not so much about those events as the opportunity to meet up with friends while strolling around what the locals call the Gay Village.I went to Sparkle in 2013 but the UK and Ireland had a very unexpected heatwave and I found it difficult enough to breathe let alone dress. This year I decided to go again -on the basis that one heatwave in a decade is all you can expect in the British Isles.
I saw it as an opportunity to meet up with some (Flickr) friends and so it proved.
We arrived too late on Thursday for me to dress and that annoyed me but then I'm easily annoyed.
On Friday night, I went to a Vanity Club dinner –yes, you read that correctly! I am not a member of VC but I was kindly invited to dinner by two of its members. It was an enjoyable experience –Jaimie Pearl, Amanda Parnell and Emma Ross were in attendance and they, like the rest of the attendees, were gorgeously glamorous.
Later that night, I met someone that I have admired for a long time –none other than Princess Helen Turner and she really is a Beautiful Princess. Earlier in the evening, I met the delightful duo of Kelly Helm and Erin Julia but we sadly didn't have time to chat for long.
On Saturday, Jaimie Pearl and I met the Karen Joanne Smith for lunch and we basically hung around together for the rest of the day chatting about everything and nothing and enjoying the sights. I should mention that it rained most of the day so every TGirl not only had the obligatory camera but also the essential umbrella. Definitely no heatwave this year!On Sunday, I met Jaimie and her lovely friend Trixie for dinner.
Now, by this stage, you are probably yawning and wondering what all the fuss is about Sparkle (assuming, of course, that you ever heard of Sparkle in the first place). As I said earlier, Sparkle no longer means anything concrete. It’s a flag of convenience for TGirls to come to Manchester and have a good time (unless they meet me, of course). However, from what I saw, a good time will only be had if you already know other girls who are attending. It’s not a place to come to make new friends and I saw many girls sitting forlornly on their own which was very sad. It made me question the alleged "community" element again.
In truth, it’s actually much more fun to amble around Manchester itself rather than confine oneself to the Village and the TG scene. That probably makes me sound rather elitist which I'm not or at least I hope I'm not. It's just that the Village does seem a little limiting.I’ve re-read the above and wondered if I could add some more positive spin to the narrative. The answer is No. Sparkle is a safe place to meet friends if you already have them –nothing else. Obviously, the Manchester Tourist Board won’t be asking me to open next year’s Sparkle but I, like so many others, will go back to meet friends and that reality will ensure that Sparkle continues.
