Teams of competitive colleagues have discovered their French flair in a charity boules tournament.
Families, friends and workmates headed to Queen Square today to help raise thousands of pounds for charity at the annual Bath Boules Tournament.
From lawyers to hairdressers to accounts, just about every industry was covered as 128 businesses from across the city went head-to-head in the popular French pastime.
The event sees 64 teams a day competing in a series of heats, with winners going forward to the knock-out challenge. Some teams have up to 20 people in them with only three of them playing at any one time.
Organiser Greg Ingham, who is chief executive at MediaClash, said all the tickets, which cost £185 per team, were snapped up within 20 minutes of going on sale online.
He said: "The beauty of boules is that anyone can be quite good at it, you just don't know until you try. It's a lovely sport and is something that little bit different to do.
"It's a very successful event as it is so much fun. So many people take part while others have just as much fun watching.
"In the last 10 years the tournament has raised a total of £135,000 for local charities such as Julian House, Dorothy House and Off The Record.
This year is the first time the event has included live music and World Cup football games were also shown on the big screen.
Mr. Ingham added that the event was billed as one of the highlights of the city's social calendar.He said: "It's a wonderful party for the whole of Bath; it's like a party to start off the summer.
"Everyone always gets into the spirit of things. It's a great day out, which always continues well into the evening. It's Bath's own mini Glastonbury."
Bath MP Don Foster was at the event to give teams his support and "some helpful tips to get them through the day."
He said: "It's a fantastic event. It's been going for so many years with more and more people coming every year.
"I play regularly at home, it's such a great game." But he joked: "I'm not playing in the tournament today though, I'm embarrassed people will think I'm too good."
The event started today (Saturday) and continues tomorrow (Sunday) with games starting at 10am.
Plans are already in place to make next year's event bigger and better by closing off two sides of Queen Square to traffic to make more room for the celebrations.
Families, friends and workmates headed to Queen Square today to help raise thousands of pounds for charity at the annual Bath Boules Tournament.
From lawyers to hairdressers to accounts, just about every industry was covered as 128 businesses from across the city went head-to-head in the popular French pastime.
The event sees 64 teams a day competing in a series of heats, with winners going forward to the knock-out challenge. Some teams have up to 20 people in them with only three of them playing at any one time.
Organiser Greg Ingham, who is chief executive at MediaClash, said all the tickets, which cost £185 per team, were snapped up within 20 minutes of going on sale online.
He said: "The beauty of boules is that anyone can be quite good at it, you just don't know until you try. It's a lovely sport and is something that little bit different to do.
"It's a very successful event as it is so much fun. So many people take part while others have just as much fun watching.
"In the last 10 years the tournament has raised a total of £135,000 for local charities such as Julian House, Dorothy House and Off The Record.
This year is the first time the event has included live music and World Cup football games were also shown on the big screen.
Mr. Ingham added that the event was billed as one of the highlights of the city's social calendar.He said: "It's a wonderful party for the whole of Bath; it's like a party to start off the summer.
"Everyone always gets into the spirit of things. It's a great day out, which always continues well into the evening. It's Bath's own mini Glastonbury."
Bath MP Don Foster was at the event to give teams his support and "some helpful tips to get them through the day."
He said: "It's a fantastic event. It's been going for so many years with more and more people coming every year.
"I play regularly at home, it's such a great game." But he joked: "I'm not playing in the tournament today though, I'm embarrassed people will think I'm too good."
The event started today (Saturday) and continues tomorrow (Sunday) with games starting at 10am.
Plans are already in place to make next year's event bigger and better by closing off two sides of Queen Square to traffic to make more room for the celebrations.
