In a country pub tucked in a corner of the Cotswold Hills in the middle of England, 433 men with the same first name gathered for an unusual celebration. There were no cults involved. No politics, either, for that matter. This was Nigel Night — a night of celebration for the Nigels of the world.
Nigels from up and down the country travelled to join the festivities. One Nigel flew in from Cyprus, and another Nigel crowdfunded his plane ticket from Texas, U.S. so he could be among his Nigel kinsfolk. One Nigel even received a marriage proposal on stage at Nigel Night.
"You'll need to speak to Nigel," said a voice on the telephone when I called The Fleece Inn, Bretforton, Worcestershire. Nigel Smith is the landlord of The Fleece and the mastermind behind the plan to assemble Nigels from across the land. When I spoke to Nigel, he told me that the night — which took place on Sept. 28 — started off as "a slightly mad idea."
"Nigels were kind of dying out," he told me. "Those of us who are still around ought to celebrate the fact we are still around and very much comfortable with our Nigelness."
"We are still around and very much comfortable with our Nigelness."
When he came up with the idea, he anticipated that there'd be "a couple of dozen of us in the pub having a few beers." Certainly not numbers in excess of 400.
"But it turned out that people who are called Nigel actually really are proud of their name despite the fact it is much maligned, we're still out there and actually making a resurgence now," said Nigel.
Nigel is — as Nigel points out — an endangered name. Per the BBC, there were fewer than three babies named Nigel born in 2016.
So, where did all the Nigels come from? "We have guys from Scotland, Nigels up from Cornwall, and a guy fly in from Cyprus," said Nigel. "But the the guy who won the award for the 'Furthest Away Nigel' was a Texan called Nigel, who'd flown over after his friends crowdfunded Nigel to come along."
Also bearing the name Nigel were the drinks on offer on Nigel Night, which were created by local breweries especially for the night. Nigel's son and daughter — who work at Purity brewery — created an ale called Mad Nigel, which may or may not be a dig at their dad. "I don't know where they were coming from with that," he told me with a chuckle.
Another ale on offer was aptly named Nige Ale, another from Nigels Are Best, and another which was simply named Nigel. Also available was a cider that's made on site at The Fleece, which they decided to call Narky Nige. "Some people would say that reflects my character very well," Nigel told me.
Also in attendance was the community's local MP who also happens to be called Nigel (what are the chances?). Nigel Huddleston MP, who also sits on the local pub committee, was out in force for Nigel Night. "He's a really important man to a lot of Nigels," said Nigel, the pub landlord.
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One Nigel was, however, notable by his absence. "Nigel Farage didn't make an appearance," said Nigel.
"But I think the great thing about the night, there was no there was no politicization of the night at all. There was none of the divisiveness that seems to have grabbed hold of us in recent times. I think it was a bit of an antidote to that," he said.
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What exactly did these 433 Nigels get up to? Well, as well as donning badges stipulating "Nigel" or "Not Nigel", there were activities aplenty.
"We had a Nigel photo booth, we had a Nigel busker, a Nigel singer, and we had the Nigel awards," said Nigel.
Yes, even non-Nigels were welcome.
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They actually had a good deal more activities planned but because Nigel Night ended up being so busy, they weren't able to get through everything.
"People were just really happy to to talk to each other and meet a new Nigel," said Nigel.
"We even found we had a Nigel dress code — two Nigels walked up to each other and looked identical but had never met each other. Blue jeans, blue windcheater, and trainers, that was the look."
But the night wasn't just a roaring success for the Nigels of the world. It also ended up raising over £1,000 for the British Heart Foundation.
"We lost one of our regulars earlier this year to a heart attack and another guy who comes in the pub regularly also had a heart attack," said Nigel. "It's something that affects us Nigels of a certain age that we need to be careful and look after ourselves."
Nigel Night was topped off with a special surprise for one Nigel in particular — a wedding proposal from his partner Donna (a non-Nigel, but welcome all the same).
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An excellent night all-round for Nigels everywhere.
