Mersea Island Scooter Rally 2024 No sooner have we recovered from the excesses of the Isle of Wight National rally, than it was time to strap the tent to the scooter again and head to Mersea Island for the Colchester DVLC’s excellent rally.
The 2000 tickets for this rally sold out in a couple of days when they went on sale, such is the popularity of what remains one of many scooterist’s favourite rallies of the year. I rode down straight after work, so had the pleasure of pitching my tent in the dark, thankfully after my quick erection I was soon drinking and catching up with mates, before heading down to say hello to the Darkside DJs and crew. Tiptoeing through the guy ropes in the dark it was clear that the camping area seemed pretty full and when I got down to the courtyard it was heaving with party-going scooterists drinking and catching up with mates.
Kit and sawdust
I had a wander around the different halls and all were busy. The DJs in the traditional room had the sawdust flying all night and on Saturday night DJ Kit (aka Princess, with his birthday tiara) kept playing until the sun came up on Sunday morning.
Mersea has something for everyone when it comes to entertainment and music. The Colchester DVLC team are not afraid to try new bands and don’t just stick with the traditional rally genres. The band marquee always draws a crowd all weekend and this year was no exception.
Live music
Friday saw a mix of ska, R&B & psychobilly, kicking off with The Skabratts, next up was The Hornets going down well, followed by the legends Frenzy, who delivered a double bass climbing storming set that left the crowd wanting more.
Saturday’s live bands saw a change of direction again, first up a new band with connections to the scooter world, Hiccup. Lead singer Jessica’s parents are both well-known rally goers and Jess herself has a Vespa and rode to Mersea last year. Hiccup are a duo, vocalist Jess and guitarist Lewis, chuck in a bass and drum heavy backing track and they delivered a powerful mix of indie, dance, metal, punk and pure energy! Maybe not every scooterist’s cup of tea, but those in the marquee soon warmed to them and they ended up playing an encore…..yes the Hiccups, repeated on us (sorry I couldn’t resist).
Next up we went from two people on the stage to nine, with the highly tipped Mad Apple Circus playing a strong set blending ska, jazz and Latin soul that kept the marquee moving.
Note: This is not the eight-piece band Shaun is describing
Eclectic collection
From nine people on the stage, eight stepped forward next in the shape of The Faithful Brothers, they delivered a brass-backed soulful set that again pleased the packed marquee.
Another excellent mix of bands and genres from the Mersea team.
If live music wasn’t your thing then the traditional ska and reggae DJs in the Mess Hall, traditional scooter tunes DJs in the Main Hall and the now traditional at Mersea, Darkside DJs in the Darkside marquee kept everyone else entertained.
One thing that many enjoy at Mersea is the silent disco and as usual the queue outside for the headsets snaked right up to the courtyard. It’s easy to see why so many love the silent disco there as the Darkside DJs know how to keep the crowd moving and flicking between channels as they do battle on the decks.
Huge custom show
Saturday afternoon at Mersea and we are spoilt for choice as the custom show is held in the large marquees, this year with a record 100 top scooters on display, including the first time that the new John Spurgeon painted, Harry Potter-themed Series 2 Lambretta was shown. Check out the Hagrid mural on the toolbox door, it’s a cracker. The owner admitted the theme was for his kids, top fella and a top dad by the sounds of it. The results are at the bottom of this article.
Young Lloyd Watts winning a bet with JG for his 54.93bhp Casa SSR
Thrash ’em
Whilst the custom show was in full swing you had the choice of watching Jonny at JG Scooters squeezing horses out of some seriously powerful scooters on his dyno or speaking to the scooter racers and finding out more about the BSSO or BSEC.
Well done to Lloyd Watts on his home-tuned and well-ridden Casa SST265 LC for hitting 54.93bhp on the dyno. It was also great to see Dave Bristow running a couple of the Hornet Racing smallframes on the dyno, watching them spinning up the rear wheel on the dyno drum as they screamed through the gearbox at up to 14000 revs was a sight and sound to behold.
Warning! May contain scenes some viewers will find distressing…
Then just around the corner, we had a different form of racing with the beer & banana race amongst other sporting spectacles. The fun and games, as always drew a big crowd and as always drew projectile vomiting from the participants.
Jessica
I mentioned in the Isle of Wight write-up how a group of scooterists had raised a serious amount of money riding over 2000 miles to get to the island and the generosity of the scooter family is awe-inspiring.
A few years ago a couple of scooterists (Sharon and Gary Wickham) arranged a bucket collection at Mersea for a little girl, Jessica, who is battling cancer.
Also on Saturday afternoons at Mersea, DJ Jay Watson plays a mix of tunes to keep those chilling in the courtyard entertained. Jay picked up on this very worthy cause and since then has set about raising money at Mersea to support Jessica and her family. This year the scooter family came together for a truly heartwarming and emotional afternoon, especially when guest of honour, little Jessica waved and thanked everyone, leaving many there with a tear in our eyes.
Jay, Dave Oakley and Dave Lloyd then held an auction of a large amount of donated goodies, which coupled with some generous cash donations by those in the crowd, raised another £3300 bringing the total that Jay, Sharon and the scooter family have raised at Mersea to approx. £10,000.
Having had the pleasure of talking to little Jess and her family and watching her ride out on her battery-powered Vespa, I just wish we could do more.
If you’d like to know more or to donate please visit www.solvingkidscancer.org.uk/jessicabutler
Kind-hearted Jay Watson with a very special little girl
The scooter family never fails to amaze with its generosity and a huge thank you to all who donated.
This really brought the crowd together and some top tunes saw people up on the tables and chairs dancing, hugging and singing along, setting everyone up for a great Saturday night.
I had a wander around the stalls and there was a good mix of parts, clothing, accessories, etc as always. Then back to the DJs and bands and it was soon time to queue for the headset for one final Darkside silent disco fix before the weekend was over.
Mersea for me is a rally that offers so much choice, all within a short walk of each other, that it is easy to see why it is so popular.
Huge thanks to Niamh, Steve, Martin, Roy, Tony and all the Colchester DVLC crew for organising another great rally. We’d best start queuing early for next year’s tickets!
Words and photos: Shaun
Main galleries: Booga
What makes Mersea different?
Just a thought, a conclusion and the difference between the two island rallies, IOW & Mersea… Mersea isn’t competing with loads of other events across the island, there’s one pub catering for the holiday park next door and an off-licence, so it keeps everyone on site as a captive audience – without the padlocks & chains!
Sadly the IOW rally is competing against the rest of the island.
