The Fattylympics is a community event satirising the You Know Whats in East London, 2012.
It took place on Saturday 7 July 2012, at Grassroots, Memorial Park, West Ham. It was free to attend and children were welcome.
This is what we did.
The Fattylympics was organised by two fat activists living in East London, it was been paid for by a series of community fundraising events, and was supported by a handful of volunteers. It was non-commercial. These are some of our values.
Here is the programme. The Fattylympics was an afternoon of larking around in the park. We had Opening and Closing Ceremonies, a Fattylympics torch and specially-written anthem. There were four participatory events, plus performances and stalls. Egg'n'Spoon are the official Fattylympics mascots, and they made an appearance too. The Fattylympics was non-competitive and everyone got a medal. We had an afternoon that is silly, relaxed and low-key.
The Fattylympics is an event that was about fat activism, and it's also about lots of things relating to the You Know Whats. Please read the following if you would like to know more about how these issues intersect:
Cooper, C. (2010) 'Olympics/Uhlympics: Living in the Shadow of the Beast', thirdspace, 9(2). [Online] Available: http://www.thirdspace.ca/journal/article/view/cooper [accessed: 11 May 2012].
Smith, C. (2012) 'Under the radar: Fat activism and the London 2012 Olympics: An interview with Charlotte Cooper', Games Monitor. [Online] Available: http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk/node/1647 [accessed 15 May 2012].
Got questions? Get in touch: puppigrrl@hotmail.com
