Headingley’s famous fancy-dress pub crawl and its impacts on residents are being explored in a new song, to be performed by a community choir along the route.
The 'Otley Run Complaints Choir’, a research project led by the University of Leeds, aims to engage Otley Runners with a song about the effects on the local community, which will be performed outside two of the busiest pubs on the route in fancy dress costume on Saturday 25 July.
The Otley Run isn’t going to change overnight. But tackling this growing problem with creativity is something that needs to happen.
The researcher leading the project, Dr Anna Douglas, is a lecturer in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies at the University. Dr Douglas, a born-and raised Headingley resident who also leads the Otley Run Action Group, said: “Our research so far has shown that the Otley Run brings a lot of joy for participants, from students to 70th birthday parties. But residents and small independent businesses often experience the downsides of the crawl all year round, with thousands of Otley Runners visiting every weekend and putting pressure on Headingley’s infrastructure.
“By performing in costume along the route, we hope our song makes visitors think, laugh, and at times join in with the performance – using participation to explore how the Otley Run is experienced by different groups.
“The Otley Run isn’t going to change overnight. But tackling this growing problem with creativity is something that needs to happen, to innovate a solution to a complex situation. The project doesn’t aim to stop the run, but it will hopefully contribute to its de-escalation and management over the next year, working alongside a team of partners including Leeds City Council officers, local councillors, West Yorkshire Police and the local MP.”
The Otley Run’s impact on Headingley
The Otley Run is a pub crawl, traditionally in fancy dress and made up of around 21 pubs, stretching from Far Headingley into Leeds City Centre.
Dr Douglas added: “The origins of the Otley Run are not precisely known. However, former students from the late 1950s say it started with the medical student societies at the University of Leeds as part of the annual ‘Raising and Giving’ (RAG) Week, in aid of charities. Towards late Saturday afternoon, Medical students would run towards the local market town of Otley to get there in time for last orders at 11pm, as these pubs were open later than Leeds’ pubs for Otley’s farmer’s market day.
“Over the 1980s, the Otley Run expanded to include all students, eventually losing its charity focus. Today, adults of all ages take part, with many stag and hen dos visiting from outside Leeds.”
The event attracts around 3,000 people to Headingley – a residential area with a large student population – to take part every weekend, with significant numbers now being from out of town, as far away as Bristol, London, Glasgow and Newcastle. Although this brings significant profits for pubs on the route, locals are affected by noise, overcrowding, intimidating behaviour, dangerous road-crossing, broken glass and even people using their gardens as toilets.
There is additional concern around the immediate and long-term health effects of binge drinking and drug use of runners, and the potential impact on medical resources in Leeds.
Complaints choir: how it works
Dr Douglas added: “The idea of the complaints choir was started by two Finnish artists in 2005 and since then, more than 160 have popped up all over the world. It’s a tried and tested method for sharing residents’ views on a problem in an impactful and engaging way.”
This Complaints Choir, however, will bring together different perspectives – expressing the joy and fun of the Otley Run, as well as residents’ concerns – which is a new way of using this method.
The Otley Run Complaints Choir has worked with a group of residents, including students, long-term residents, local business owners and University of Leeds alumni, to discuss their thoughts and ideas around the Otley Run. Community songwriter Nicky Bray will then turn the ideas, and some verbatim quotes, into a song for the group to perform, putting the voices of residents at the forefront.
Funded by the Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Cultural Institute’s Sapling Fund, the project is an example of the University of Leeds’ commitment to working with local communities to improve lives through impactful research.
Sue Jennings, Director of Left Bank Leeds – a creative community events venue in a former church – is part of the project team. Sue said: “Otley Runners tell us that fancy dress is a big part of the attraction of doing the Run. We’d like to see more creativity and innovation with this, so our Choir will wear specially made costumes to emphasise the importance of creativity and sustainability, over buying one-wear only ones bought from the likes of Amazon, and often discarded by the end of the night.”
Further information
Top images: Left – The Otley Run Complaints Choir in rehearsals. Credit: Anna Reed. Right – Sue Jennings and Anna Douglas dressed up for part of the initial research.
The Otley Run Complaints Choir will perform throughout the afternoon, on Saturday 25 July. For broadcast crews wanting to film, or any media enquiries, please contact Mia Saunders in the University of Leeds press office to coordinate via m.saunders@leeds.ac.uk.