It’s hard to know where to start on this one. It has been years in the making, and such a demanding project to conceive, develop and realise, it’s tricky now to see it for what it is. Wood for trees stuff. Sure you understand.
Two years ago, I had the idea of holding a 40th birthday party for my Land Rover. That might seem a trifle silly to you; it didn’t seem entirely sensible to me, but this car, my beloved Blue Tit, whose ability to let me down almost relentlessly but still crawl under my skin, is different. In many ways I owe her everything. It was an absolutely silly Instagram video I made back in 2023 comparing it to a shiny new Bentley that launched me into this mad career I have adopted or, perhaps more accurately, seems to have adopted me. When people stop and say hello, they appear much more interested in the health of my Land Rover than me. And quite right too.
So, this party. The idea of doing it lingered in my mind, popping up with ever growing frequency until it became an immovable idea demanding to be fulfilled. The first call I had with event production agencies went something along the lines of, ’I know it’s a silly idea, and ideas in this category often get dismissed as they are just that, but that is precisely why I want to create it.’ The man on the other end of the phone, a perfect stranger who must have thought he was talking to some poor woman recently departed from her senses, listed the difficulties, vast expense and logistical nightmare of throwing a 40th birthday for my Land Rover. In every way he tried to dissuade me from this clearly ruinous course of action. I always appreciate honesty, and as the months have gone on, I’ve learnt exactly how correct he was. But I also like a challenge, although had I appreciated at the time the sheer scale of what I was about to take on, even I might have thought twice about it.
