Tanya and David from Torchbearers share some photos of their industrious group…

September has been a busy month for the Torchies. We’ve spent out Saturday afternoon meetings at Arts Complex crafting headdresses, horns and balls…lots and lots of balls!

This Samhuinn’s cranial adornments begin with a mardi gras-style wire headdress. Each headdress starts its life as pieces of wire being shaped around a jig created from a diagram on paper before being assembled. This is surprisingly uncomplicated and headdresses can easily be customised to fit differently sized heads and carry all sorts of embellishments.

Our big metal horns are attached to these. You won’t get to see the finished articles until Samhuinn night, but we’re proud to say that the Torchies are a creative and crafty bunch!

As anyone who has ever been involved in making torchballs (minds out of the gutter, people – torchballs are what we burn in our torches) will tell you, ripping white cotton sheets into strips is most definitely a group activity. Rumour has it, Torchies can become quite possessive of their ball material.

Wrapping, wrapping, wrapping…twisting and wrapping…

…and a torchball is born! Actually, lots of torchballs are born. Now they hibernate peacefully in big blue bags until it’s time to prepare them for their final mission on Samhuinn night.

We’re heading off on a camping trip with Stewards, Tech and Photo Point this weekend before getting stuck into full-on rehearsals and fiery fun for the month of October. More photos of Torchie-based antics coming soon!