UK PonyCon report, part 5: Sunday (second half)

The lot's official name was MAYONNAISE, BING BONG BING BONG

Mid-afternoon rolled around on the Sunday of UK PonyCon 2021, and that meant one thing: Charity Auction time! Although there had been auctions in a few formats tried online, nothing really matches up to being there in person, so there was a real frisson of excitement as we piled into the mane stage room, remembering to pick up a numbered card to hold up. I happened to get number 100, which was indicative of... absolutely nothing. We had to give the cards back later in any case, which was a shame.

And then, after a quick intro talk from an RDA representative, it was on! As always, predicting what any one lot might go for was a bit of a fool's errand. I had very little spare money left by this time, so I wasn't expecting to pick up anything, but it was fun to participate even so. Some of the highlights included a "mark one" Flufflepuff for £250 and UKPC Britannia seapony plush number 000 for... well, I can't remember, but it wasn't exactly low. People had been saving for two years!

I'd rather... siiiiiiing!

However, the really eye-opening bids came elsewhere. A lovely big Derpy plushie went for a staggering £1,400 – but that wasn't even the highest! Three people in the audience seemed to have set their hearts on the roller banners that promoted UKPC inside the venue. (You can see them in the second photo in part 2.) No fewer than three of these went for four-figure sums, with the most expensive being £1,600. I think that is the highest price for a single lot in UK PonyCon's history!

Mind you, the real star of the show was of course the keenly awaited battle for the jar of mayonnaise. Yes, really. I actually stuck my hand up for the opening bid or two here – Celestia knows what I'd have done if I'd won! – but things escalated quite a bit, and in the end the mayo went to con chair Maz for the little matter of £100. I don't know who else bid or what will happen to it, but a tiny little part of me hopes that it'll be being used to scare unicorn foals come Nightmare Night. :P 

Amlaur (centre) considers the pros and cons of unlimited imperial power

We were given a quick estimate of the total raised at the end of the auction, but later on it emerged that the total raised for the RDA during UKPC 2021, including from other sources, had topped £10,000. Given attendance was announced as only around 60% of that in 2019,* when the all-time record of £11,000 was set, this was a truly wonderful result. None of us who were there that afternoon will ever forget that auction. It was one of those things people will be talking about for a long time to come.
* That implies a 2021 attendance of a bit over 500. Very good indeed in the circumstances!

Sadly, we were getting towards the end of the convention by now. Most unusually for me, I hadn't so much as visited a karaoke room this con, so I followed a few of the others over for the last singing session of the weekend. Although I didn't sing solo, partly to allow kids to do so, I very much enjoyed being able to join in a variety of G4 and G5 numbers. The room wasn't too crowded and the tech wasn't misbehaving, so it made quite a relaxing way to spend half an hour or so.

The sunny venue. Also the Sunny venue

And then it was time for the closing ceremony. Boooo! Before we began, though, we had a little mass singalong. The only G4 track I can remember was the classic "Cafeteria Song", but for once even that was overshadowed. G5's thoroughgoing success was underlined with a wonderful, raucous group rendition of "Danger, Danger" – we weren't a very angry mob in reality, but it was enormous fun. The usual thank yous and prizegivings followed... and then we really did have to leave.

About a dozen of us headed for the Gooseberry Bush pub for a post-con meal – fish and chips in my case. I'm sorry to say that my newly acquired Fluttershy doll disgraced herself when faced with my pint of cider. Worse, a certain person who really ought to remain nameless (but won't – hi, Culdee) sat her on the vinegar bottle to declare "Fluttershy on acid". Dearie dearie me. After 90 minutes or so I headed for the tram to the station, accompanied by Stu and Oilyvalves, both of whom shared a convivial table with me for part of the train trip home.

Go home, Fluttershy, you're drunk

And that was it for my first convention in two years! What a weekend it had been. The event had been a resounding success, and I was delighted to have been able to be a part of it. The experience of UKPC 2021 has certainly made me very much hope that I will manage to be there for UKPC 2022!

Next time: some bits and bobs and random thoughts I couldn't fit in the standard report