What is a Skydiving Boogie?

Skydive LangarEvents, Experienced Skydivers

boogie bigway

If you’ve spent any time on the drop zone, it’s likely you’ve heard excited voices talking about Boogies… but what exactly is a Boogie? Here’s everything you need to know.

What happens at a Boogie?

A Boogie is essentially a skydiving festival. A Boogie typically has even more jumping with even more organised jumps, too.

There are usually more parties and more social activities going on too, and we’ve had fancy dress themes over the years including neon, Olympics, beach party, B-for-Boogie and lots more! We also regularly have entertainment planned for the evenings, anything from quizzes to live music, and food from pizza vans to burger vans to home cooked food in our very own Skydive Langar Cafe.

Boogie 3 2020 Full Video

Boogies are a great place to come and get to know new people, and often, people will opt to stay over on our campsite or in local accommodation to enjoy the evenings as well as the daytime.

Boogies aren’t just a Langar thing. In fact, they’re global! You’ll find Boogies all over the world so if you’re looking to travel, finding a DZ with a Boogie going on is always a good shout!

Jumping at a Boogie

We typically do more jumping during Boogies than any other time of year and thanks to our three resident aircraft, you won’t have to wait too long between jumps, either.

Boogies are open to everyone, including students, skydivers who just qualified through to very experienced skydivers, and everything in between!

Boogie Bigway by Dan Maden

Load organising

Load organising is the term used to describe ‘planned jumps’. A load organiser (LO)’s role is to plan skydives which will give everyone the opportunity to learn and have fun. They will brief the jump, making sure everyone is clear on the plan, lead the jump and then provide a thorough debrief afterwards, so everyone can learn.

Load organising happens across disciplines, too. Most commonly, you’ll see FS load organising available as what we call ‘walk up’, meaning you can arrive on the day and simply pop your name on the sign up sheet and join in.

That’s not to say you definitely won’t find walk up FF or TR or WS load organising, but it’s less common. More often in these disciplines, you’ll find load organising which is ‘invitational’, meaning you will either need to be invited, or apply to be part of the group. Look out for details of any invitation LO at our events by checking out our Facebook page.

Boogie 2 2019 Full Video

Finding people to jump with

If you’re not looking for LO jumps, or perhaps the groups are a little out of your experience range, worry not! We’re very proud of the incredibly friendly and welcoming community we have here at Langar, and people tend to hang out at the sofas in Hangar 1, in The Tower or outside on the grass, so there are always plenty of people to meet and join in with.

Or if you’re feeling a little unsure, do feel free to speak to one of our instructors, who usually know most people on the DZ and can help introduce you if you’re feeling a little shy.

Getting coaching at a Boogie

Getting coaching is possible at a Boogie, but if we’re being completely honest, it can be a little trickier. That’s because many of our coaches will be getting involved in, or organising, the LO jumps. That doesn’t mean you can’t get coaching, but expect it to be a little thinner on the group. We’ll do our best to make it known who is coaching on a given day though to help you out.

Does it cost more to jump at a Boogie?

Nope! Unless it’s a specific jump such as a display or from a visiting aircraft and we tell you another cost, all jumps are charged at our standard rate.

Boogie 1 2019 Full Video

Boogie Socials

The social side of skydiving is one of the best things about our community and when we’re not jumping out of planes together, we love spending time enjoying social activities.

During a Boogie, there are more social activities planned and organised for you, including food (things like barbecues, the pizza van and home cooked meals from Skydive Langar Cafe always go down a treat), group activities like quizzes and watching movies, and other fun things like live music and just relaxing at our on-site bar.

Of course, while we are all here to have fun, safety is always a big consideration for us into the evenings as much as during the day, so as we continue to move out of Covid, we will keep an eye on regulations and safety considerations there, while our Safeguarding team is on hand to ensure everyone feels safe and comfortable in our environment.

Boogie Flocking by Gary Wainwright