The first ever Six Feet Under convention will be in Bournemouth from 12-14 August, 2011. The idea came to Brian Jenner while walking through the town’s Wimborne Road cemetery.
“I was reminded of an episode where one of the characters jogs through a graveyard.” says Brian. “I was struck by the beauty of the place. It occurred to me, we could put on the equivalent of a Star Trek convention for fans of Six Feet Under. Bournemouth has a reputation for funeral homes, spirituality and hedonism, anyone who loved Six Feet Under will be familiar with the mix.”
Six Feet Under ran for five series between 2001-2005. The episodes are now being re-aired on Sky Atlantic. The show has over half-a-million fans on Facebook and Brian Jenner is aiming to attract them from all over Europe.
“We want to put the ‘fun’ into funereal. There are loads of issues around death that people rarely discuss, like how you would like to be buried? Do you need to be embalmed? Or, how do you organise a funeral service? Normally these decisions are left to relatives who have to guess what their loved ones would want. This weekend will be a chance for people to become better informed about dying. When you get over the uncomfortableness of the subject matter, there’s really lots to laugh about.”
The convention has already signed up an embalmer from Salisbury, the former Daily Telegraph obituary editor, a soul midwife, the author of the Good Funeral Guide and experts in green funerals.
Brian adds: “Every year there are dozens of wedding fairs around the country, so the general public can see what’s available for a wedding, but there are very few opportunities for people to find out about the variety of services on offer for funerals. Maybe this event will mark the birth of the ‘Funeral Fair’.”
For more details go to http://www.sixfeetunderconvention.co.uk or contact Brian Jenner 01202 551257
