Good food, great entertainment, the awards ceremony, and charity casino were the order of the night at this year's Water Industry Achievement Awards (WIAA), which took place at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole at the NEC, Birmingham on April 21. More than 500 guests attended the prestigious event, organised by WET News and WWT, to recognise, reward and celebrate the innovative achievements of the award winners and finalists. The evening started with a drinks reception and with the event having a circus theme, guests were wowed by jugglers, ringmasters on stilts, a clockwork ballerina and a magician mingling among them. As guests settled at their tables, more jugglers took to the stage before WET News editor Maureen Gaines and WWT editor James Brockett got proceedings underway by outlining what was in store for the evening and to remind guests that they should be congratulated for having made it this far in the awards selection process. More circus acts - a contortionist and two moustachioed strong men in lycra - performed during dinner and then the awards got underway in earnest. But not before the audience felt the heat of the Fire Jugglers. Comedian and awards host Hal Cruttenden had the audience in stitches as he noted the irony should something have gone wrong during that act and the Hilton had burnt down during an event celebrating the achievements of the water industry!
展开▼
