I don’t know about you ninjas but I had no clue there was a sort of Juggalo Gathering that went down every year in the UK. I guess that makes sense considering I’m not from the UK but still.

Apparently at this year’s UK Juggalo Weekender event shit didn’t go so well for the 70 or so Juggalos in attendance.

To start, when the Juggalos showed up to Pontins in Southport on Friday to pick up the keys for their 11 chalets(?) they had booked, they noticed that the campground had separated them all rather than putting them all in one area like previous years. This was some bullshit that was done on purpose.

Then, on Saturday morning at 3:00am, Pontins management decided they didn’t want any drunk Juggalos hanging out, so security started kicking people out in a very violent fashion.

Apparently the actions caused by Pontins security lead to a “scuffle” between Juggalos and the security.

It got so bad that the Juggalos decided to call the police which in the end only made things worse because the police sided with Pontins security.

Of course. Honestly, even though this shit it happening on another continent, is anyone really surprised by this bullshit anymore?

Vice did a really great job in an article that was just posted basically explaining everything I just did but in much greater detail. You can check out the full article by CLICKING HERE or check it out below.

Props to Henry Jacobson.

Screen shot via the Insane Clown Posse video for “Beautiful”

This weekend, an army of UK-based Insane Clown Posse fans descended on sunny Southport for the seventh incarnation of the unofficial British juggalo festival, the UK Juggalo Weekender.

Unlike its infamous US counterpart, the Gathering of the Juggalos, the Weekender doesn’t get a huge amount of attention. For a start, ICP don’t actually play there (although you can catch them in London this November if you’re so inclined – whoop whoop). It’s also a lot smaller, typically attracting a small hardcore of around 100 fans, rather than the festival-sized crowds you find in the States. Oh, and it takes place at a humble Pontins holiday camp, rather than in the great American outdoors.

But what the UK Gathering lacks in size, it makes up for in gusto. Because if there’s one thing that juggalos know (and it certainly isn’t how magnets work), it’s how to throw a party. Fans come adorned with Hatchet-man tattoos, baggy hoodies, wallet chains and ICP clown make-up, sometimes applied with actual spray paint. There are makeshift sound systems pumping out all your favourite horrorcore, and at the UK Gathering they even import crates of Faygo – the American equivalent of Panda Pops, which functions as a sort of communion wine for ICP fans.

This year, just under 70 juggalos arrived at Pontins in Southport on Friday afternoon, fully down to clown with the rest of their juggalo fam. However, when the group went to pick up the keys for the 11 chalets they had booked, they realised that something was up.

“Rather than putting us all together, like in previous years, they split us up so we were dotted in little sets around the campsite,” says Josh Steadman, a Nuneaton-based juggalo who works as a reptile handler. “In previous years we had complaints with noise, but we always made sure it was contained, taking the party inside after 9PM and that. Sometimes, we even had other guests come and join in the party.”

So far, so sensible – but at around 3AM on Saturday morning things took a turn for the worse, when Pontins management made the sudden decision to expel the drunken juggalos from the camp site. According to Josh and various juggalo Facebook posts, they dispatched a troop of security guards, presumably with the intention of politely asking the group to leave.

What happened next is unclear. Josh admits there was a small scuffle between the juggalos and security, but maintains that Pontins’ finest are to blame for what followed.

“When the security came, they were just pure violent,” says Josh.

In a series of angry Facebook posts, the juggalos have accused Pontins security of heavy-handed tactics and “roughing up” party-goers. One female juggalo says security turned a blind eye when she was punched in the face by a male holidaymaker.

Pontins have not replied to repeated requests for comment.

It was around this time that the juggalos called the cops – not that it helped all that much. In a Facebook post, one attendee claims that Merseyside Police completely blanked the juggalos, instead choosing to side with the security guards and facilitate the eviction.

Having already been branded a criminal gang by the FBI, it was a new low for relations between law enforcement and the juggalo community.

Contributors:

• Scottie D

Websites:

• Vice.com
• UK Juggalo Weekender on Facebook