After a pre-event, Thursday night cocktail party (the aftermath of which found me thrown from my bike and gazing drunkenly up at the stars for a good half-hour), the eighth Weird Weekend proper opened on Friday 17 August with a dragon dance featuring the children of the North Devon village of Wolfordisworthy (aka Woolserey) carrying a huge Chinese-style red dragon. CFZ director and former music journalist Jon Downes (he used to specialise in writing about anarcho punk band Crass) said: “I think this is going to be a very weird weekend… People from all over the world come to it and people from the village get involved.”

Friday 17 August: Britain’s Secret Wildlife

The Friday evening session of talks kicked off with Jon McGowan, who has been on the trail of two new types of lizard on the cliff tops of Bournemouth and also shared his experiences of Alien Big Cats, which, he told us found the cool climate of Britain perfectly acceptable.

Sticking with ABCs, Chris Moiser, of Big Cats in Britain, turned up late for his talk but by way of apology explained he’d been buying a zoo – Tropiquaria in Minehead.