All good things must come to an end and the gala evening on October 27th marked the grand finale of the 29th Annual Conference in London. As you would expect, in the beautifully decorated hall of the Guoman Tower Hotel, this was the exciting evening for everyone when the medals would be awarded in the festive atmosphere heightened by approaching farewells.

Formal dress was the rule, with a touch of royal blue in the suits and dresses, with school uniforms and even dirndl dress for the Austrian girls, and with the hall decorated to match. Such was the décor for the evening.

The hall in ‘formal dress’ for the gala evening

In her welcome speech Aysegul Yesyldaglar took the opportunity of warmly thanking her team and the representatives of the sponsors, as well as all the participants at the London Conference, expressing the hope that everyone would continue to have excellent memories of the event. But above all she made a point of thanking all of her organising team, which had shown such obvious professionalism.

the team from Docklands Academy London

For her part Ana Paula Pais took the floor to thank most warmly the Docklands Academy and in particular its Principal Aysegul Yesildaglar for organising this 29th Annual Conference in London; she wished everyone an excellent evening, a great deal of pleasure, and a good journey home the following day. She took the opportunity of giving a present to Aysegul Yesildaglar as well as to the members of the team from the Docklands Academy London.

Presents for everyone Pete the compère Guitar Violin

Just as for the opening ceremony, several artists gave performances to provide interludes. A little later came the ceremony of handing the AEHT flag from the United Kingdom to Belgium, from Aysegul Yesildaglar to Sanne Huygens, watched by Ana Paula Pais. Usually this is a solemn moment, but this year it took place with no solemnity. We could scarcely hear a few strains of the Belgian national anthem!

The AEHT flag is passed from the United Kingdom to Belgium

A little later Vice-President Klaus Enengl invited onto the stage the ten Head Judges and Vice-President Remco Koerts, to organise with them, and with the help of the audience, an enormous chant of ‘whoo’  so well known to Icelandic footballers. Not without thanking the Head Judges for their work by presenting each with a gift.

laus Enengl directs a deafening ‘whoo’ chant on the platform and from the audience.

And finally the last part of the evening’s proceedings was the award of the bronze, silver and gold medals to the winners of the ten competitions in a ceremony directed by Pete, the evening’s compère. And just as every year, there were the same scenes of joy or disappointment and general delirium.