7 day conventions?

HereIgo

Did any of you attend the old school week long conventions? I have heard stories and it seems like these were mostly in the 70's and 80's before my time. What were they like? I couldn't imagine. I grew up going to the modern 3 day conventions and was dying to go home by the end of Sunday!

fokyc

In the 60's they were 8 day conventions.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/133254/how-many-remember-1969-8-day-convention

fulano

1969, Nürnberg . Unbelievable, 8 days on a camping.

possum

My grandmother actually played violin in the live orchestras they had in those days at the assemblies.

zeb

I recall some long ones in my earliest days and hearing all the mums complaining about running out of clothes and other needs for families while elders floated above it all on their own little cloud.

jookbeard

I was a 3 year old toddler dragged along to the 1969 International District Convention at Wembley Stadium which I believe would have been a eight day job with evening sessions as well !

Incognito

Not only were they 8 days, they also ran until 8 or 9pm except for the final day (I think officially 6pm but typically much later after the final prayer which summarized every talk).

Venues were often outdoor sports stadiums and horse race tracks where, if you didn't arrive at least 2 hours in advance to obtain seats in the covered areas, you were stuck sitting unprotected on benches where it was hot as h_ll and you would sunburn and become drenched when it rained. Ah, Good times - not.

Even circuit assemblies had Friday evening sessions.

Ucantnome

I think 1969 at Wembley started on a wet Tuesday and ended the following Sunday We attended all of it. 1963 I think was eight days my mother was ill so we didn't go to all of it.

Tallon

A bit before my time JW wise. The longest conventions I attended were the 4 day events.

Slidin Fast

1963 "Round the World" assembly Twickenham London, magical time for a young impressionable lad. That was the assembly when I consciously put my doubts to one side and decided to commit. I had though already been a victim of impulse child baptism for years. That was a big mistake that took decades of my life and challenged my mental health for all that time.

I am pretty sure there was another 8 day job in between time. i drove down to London in a Triumph Vitesse convertible with a girl I fancied and then never spoke to her again for the whole assembly. I think that was a by product of my sheltered upbringing I had no idea of how to behave with the opposite sex. What a bastard I was!

1969 Wembley, the national Brit assembly too far. 82,000 attended for 8 days at a ground designed for 90 minute football games. Amazing but disastrous, the crowd control was dangerous, food services overwhelmed, parking and bus arrangements chaotic. I got food poisoning, but again ver spoke to her again. as a young impressionable pioneer it felt like a Glastonbury rock festival. Ridiculous I know, but times we then were different then.

I like many others I met my future wife there. Looking back, I think that these experiences for many make looking away from the org too hard. They are part of the life investment that makes admitting it was all bollocks too painful for them.

7 day conventions?

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