Making the 1st Uk Pez Gathering with Kelle...

Kelle Blyth is making history, by hosting and creating the very first UK Pez Gathering! The event is taking place on 20th August 2016 at the Garage, Norwich, England 11am - 4pm, so how did this idea come to life?
Kelle is sharing her story with us.  Thanks Kelle :)

 

So, where to start?

I guess the beginning is always a good place. 

I was just a baby when........too far back? Yeah I guess you're right!

Let's start at the beginning of my PEZ adventure! My “real” collecting started in my teenage years. I was always the strange girl who collected those “silly kids toys” (silly kids toys?! I think not). I'd never found anyone else that shared my passion for this hobby. Then one day, I discovered MySpace4PEZheads. Wow, others like me! I'd spend hours looking and learning from people on there and I longed to be able to attend one of the conventions I'd read about. But due to lack of funds, I knew that it wasn't going to be a possibility anytime in the near future. Then a little lightbulb went ping in my head. What if there was an event in the UK, and better still, what if I was to host the event. With a background in Music Industry Management and Event Promotion, I knew that this was something that I could do, and hopefully I could make it great. So I put the feelers out and tried to gain a little interest. To my utter disappointment, interest was at zero. Was I really the only one in the UK that wanted to be part of something like this? It was beginning to feel very much like that. Who was I kidding anyway? I'd never even met another collector in England. I guess that the UK wasn't quite ready for it!

Roll on a few, okay, quite a few years. I'm sat up my computer and something in my brain makes my fingers type the word PEZ into Facebook. By this time Myspace4PEZheads is no more and this crazy site where people tend to find out every little detail about your life is now bringing me back into the world of PEZ. Hallelujah, Facebook is good for something! That little lightbulb in my head from all those years ago is still there, although not burning quite as bright anymore, but it's there. 

I decide that I can't be the only British PEZ head out there, and I would love to get in contact with others. This was the birth of PEZ Collectors UK.

https://www.facebook.com/PezCollectorsUK/

I figured that I could share PEZ info whilst at the same time find other collectors. Slowly but surely, the page began to get followers. Oh my gosh, there ARE others!! And so the cogs started turning again. Once again I put the C word out there. And before all your dirty minds start thinking how rude I am, I totally meant Convention! POW, another blow with no interest. It was very disheartening. But people who know me, know that I am a very determined person. Good things come to those that wait.

So I waited, and I waited and I waited.

2015 – the year that made my lightbulb almost burst! 

The Facebook page was going well and another attempt at gaining some interest in a future event actually worked!!!! I had people interested in actually coming to something. YES!!! I was so excited. That was the point when I thought “Screw it!” nothing was going to stop me hosting the 1st UK PEZ Gathering!
<3 Kelle

Stay Tuned, Kelle will be sharing more with us soon!
Visit Kelle gathering page on Facebook HERE

follow Kelle on Twitter @KellePEZ
on Instagram pez_collectors_uk