Europe’s biggest bar crawl has a reputation to uphold and the masses of paint covered, lycra laced, cardboard wielding students didn’t disappoint on one of the biggest nights of the year. Impact roamed the streets to find the best and the worst that 7 Legged had to offer.
As the shops closed for the evening and locals tucked into their restaurant meals, all were oblivious to what the next few hours had in store. Eventually, the eerie silence and pent-up tension, that had been building for days, was broken by the shouts of “ONE! TWO! ONE! TWO!” as a gang of video game characters marched onto Market Square with the most skilled 7 Legged walking to be seen all night.
Where else could you see a face-off between some fishermen and Umpa Lumpas, a minion getting off with superman or a giant chicken playing chicken with a tram? Wherever you look, something deeply hilarious is happening. A conga line forms behind a Karni rep heading for The Bunker and their joyous chants fade off into the distance whilst a bemused local looks on as an inebriated carrot runs past.
Impact speaks to Karni Reps Gen Legg and Chris Halestrap to ask them about their experiences of the night. Obviously we were keen to know their funniest stories, Gen tells us: “There was a large group of people, I think there were nine of them and they tied themselves together really tightly. They kept falling down and it was really hard to untie them because they had so many knots in the material keeping them together. Not a good idea”.
Undoubtedly Gen and Chris will have seen a mass of costumes throughout the night, so we had to find out their favourite, Gen tells us: “there were multiple, there was the Ebola prevention agency and the Barbie’s in the boxes. There were also people who went as giant grapes and that was funny”, while Chris says: “my favorite were the sky sports news teams”. Having been inspired by the night’s attire Chris tells Impact that if the Karni Reps were to dress up they would go as a centipede, adding: “we would all wear black and we would all stick arms to ourselves. We would walk in single file. Maybe we could all wear that rubber tubing kids use to help them swim”.
While, last year’s 7 Legged saw an explosion of questionable Jimmy Saviles into the city centre. This year, students seem to have embraced the escalating Ebola situation with many groups dressed head to toe in Hazmat suits. At least it might help keep the freshers’ flu at bay.
The eclectic mix of costumes showed no bounds and displayed the amazing creativity and resourcefulness that students have after a few bevvies. Some students, on the other hand, simply couldn’t be bothered. Here Impact documents the best and the worst from the night.
The Best
Booziest Catch
These 3rd year Trawlermen pay homage to Nottingham’s nautical links (or lack thereof), catching students in their nets and forcing them to down their drinks.
Wonders of the University
1st year Solar System models, Team Eifel Tower, impressed Impact with their enthusiasm alone. Psychologist and part time planet protester, Jo, demands that Pluto should be made a planet again. When the question “Have you ever been orbited?” comes up, we are immediately encircled in a colourful swarm but before we are able to understand the gravity of the situation, they break off and begin orbiting a nearby Ambulance.
Built out of Necessity
3rd years, Team Redden and Others, took a more objective approach when making their costumes. Their mentality of “We need mixers to go with the alcohol, so we bring the soft-drinks to the bars” can’t be argued with.
Knights of the Round Table
Team Ricky pulled off a great Monty Python tribute, complete with clacking coconuts. Even though we’re in a temperate zone, we think the coconuts may have come from Tesco and didn’t migrate of their own accord.
Andy’s Toys
With 19 people in this 4th year Toy Story group, it could well be the largest of the night. A great effort showing that the pensioners of UoN can still teach the freshers a thing or two.
Lets Get Ready to Rumble!
2nd years Mark and Oliver show that 7 Legged isn’t just about the costumes, it’s about making a spectacle. With a makeshift ring and a packed crowd outside Yates’, the boxers’ bout ends in a dignified draw.
The Worst
Men in T-shirts
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones would turn the Neuralyzer on themselves to forget this poor attempt. They may get the vote for the most thorough leg taping though.
The Primark Petting Zoo
These onesie wearing Parkour wannabes certainly embraced the drinking side of 7 Legged. #Bakchods (Hindi slang for senseless f*ckers) needed to put a bit more effort into their zoo theme though.
The Class War
There is nothing worse than wearing football for fancy dress and they were in plentiful supply at 7 Legged. Adams’ Grammar Bigots got their name from a recent article published about racism and sexism at a Shropshire grammar school (which one of them attended). An attempt to discuss social and political issues didn’t go well.
Several Peas without a Pod
Watching this group of first years attempt to scale the Market Sq. fountain with their legs tied was a highlight of the night. We wanted more than just a painted face though. After a bit of fountain climbing, the peas joined with some other garden vegetables and an out of place banana.
Men in White Coats
This scientists team were so embarrassed about their costumes that they ran off before we got their picture. “I’ll do my sober face” was the only thing we got from the lone scientist. A lab coat stinking of Jäger is not going to go down well in the lab.
The streets started to calm as the herds made their way to the final venues, leaving a trail of sombreros, handcuffs, wigs and glitter in their wake. It’s easy to see why 7 Legged has gained its infamous reputation and why students come back year after year.
After trudging the streets all night with drunken fancy dress clad students, the Karni Reps retired to a secret after party, of which Impact got the inside scoop, Chris tells us: “The after party was really good and it was good to be able to relax after working hard all night. The party was just the Karni reps, not all made it that far into the night but it was good”.
Who knows if Sir Jesse Boot imagined that his tradition could have escalated to such a large, intoxicated scale. The tireless work of Karnival has secured 7 Legged as the biggest bar crawl in Europe and will undoubtedly be aiming to go bigger next year. The endless stories and photos will keep us going until then though
Michael Bowes (additional reporting by Abby Hung)
Image credit: Michael Bowes
