SMURFS? What was all that about?

Over the past few weeks you may have seen a lot of stuff to do with Smurfs.

Pictures of Smurfs sat on Dylan Thomas's lap, Smurfs running up and down the Kingsway, Thousands of Smurfs filing into Oceana nightclub on a random Monday night.

This was one of the fun bits about being part of Swansea Students' Union and also the most high profile event for us in quite a few years. From Chorley to China all the way down to Australia and then back round to Canada, the media response from our 'Smurf World Record Attempt' has been fantastic.

The idea sounds simple, get some students to dress up as Smurfs and then make sure they're all in the same place at the same time. In reality it took weeks of blood, sweat and blue paint to make sure it happened. The students union, the Oceana Leisure Complex on Kingsway and the fancy dress company we worked with all pulled together to make sure that the event was a sell out and that the current record was absolutely smashed by Swansea students with 2,510 completely painted Smurfs.

So why do it in the first place? It's no secret that the night life in Swansea is one of the top things that students enjoy about the city, and we pride ourselves as a students union on being able to deliver great entertainment alongside our Welfare and Educational support services. So this idea just seemed to be the natural end of exams feel good party that our members wanted.

I was one of the blue police, the people there on the night making sure that everyone was blue and so could be part of our record. The sense of community was great; the feeling when the result was announced that we were world record holders and that together we had got it done was immense.

Now don't get me wrong, in the grand scheme of things, did it solve any big world issue? No, but it did show the best of what this city has to offer to the thousands of students who pump so much into the local economy. On that basis alone, I would call it a success.

Stay Safe

Luke