What happened to Panto Week?

by Chris Johnson. Published Tue 12 Jan 2010 14:42

Whatever happened to Liverpool University's rag week? It should be on right now.

When I first came to work in Liverpool as a callow youth in the 1960s "Panto Week" brought a burst of high-jinks and good cheer to the depths of winter.

"Panto Week" saw a Panto Parade through the city centre - a winter carnival - with students rattling collecting cans to raisie money for good causes.

Lots of other events were also arranged and there was a real mood of co-oepration and competition between the students in answer to the question "What are you doing for the Panto Week?"

I suppose the pedestrianisation of Church Street might have had an influence, since a by-product meant that the Panto Week Parade would no longer have been able to pass though the main shopping area.

But I imagine there must have been many other reasons why Panto Week took it's final bow in the 1970s. I suppose the fact that there are now more than 15,000 students at Liverpool University alone is a significant factor - not to mention the numbers at the JMU and Hope Universities.

Fifteen thousand students engaging in Panto high-jinx could be a recipe for disaster.

Also, few students these days cannot rely on government grants to see them through their studies. Most run-up debts of more than £10,000 to banks and the Student Loans Company.

What they spend it on is open to question and I suspect it does mean that today's students no longer need the excuse of a rag week to let their hair down.

From what I've observed the main jamboree is now "Freshers' Week" which these days is more like "Freshers' Month" and is all about students spending borrowed money to get drunk in a very big way.