19-05-2009 Weird Weekend

TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2009
PRESS RELEASE: 2009 Weird Weekend

Once again, this August, the tiny North Devon village of Woolfardisworthy becomes the weirdest place in the land, as people from all over the world converge upon the Community Centre for the tenth annual Weird Weekend.

The Weird Weekend is the world-famous annual fundraiser for the Devon based Centre for Fortean Zoology – the world’s largest mystery animal research group, and is three days of fun for all the family. There are lectures, films, music and theatre, and the world’s leading experts on a whole range of mysteries.

Highlights this year include:

TIM THE YOWIE MAN
An Australian naturalist who has spent his life researching the yowie – Australia’s version of the yeti. He even changed his name by deed poll.
NICK REDFERN
An English author now living in Dallas who has uncovered one of the strangest stories of post war USSR: That Stalin hoped to breed a race of super soldiers who were part human, part gorilla.
ANDY ROBERTS
A much-respected UK investigator tells the strange story of the Big Grey Man of Ben McDhui – a mountain in The Cairngorms

But the Weird Weekend does not just provide a forum for well-established researchers to present their research. MAX BLAKE (18) will be making his conference debut this year with a fascinating account of how creatures unknown to science can turn up in the pet trade. What’s more he will be bringing some of these animals along with him.

There is also a whole programme of events for children; something which makes this event unique. “Unlike other conferences on these subjects,” says organiser Jonathan Downes, who celebrates his 50th birthday the same week as the event, “the Weird Weekend is aimed at the whole family, and at the general public as well as the specialist researcher.”

“The Weird Weekend has become a real community event over the past few years,” he continues. “Last year the eldest person through the door was 87, and the youngest only 2.”

It is not just a fundraiser for the CFZ. Local charities also benefit, and it is a showcase for several environmental and animal welfare groups.

The Weird Weekend takes place from 14-16th August 2009, and advance weekend tickets are on sale at £20. For more details telephone Jon or Corinna on 01237 431413

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. His latest book is Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Russia, Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and The Amateur Naturalist, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv www.cfztv.org. One of their films `Lair of the Red Worm` which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 50,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (52). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/) which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors