The World Scout Jamboree is a Scoutingjamboree of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, typically attended by several tens of thousands of Scouts from around the world, aged 14 to 17. At the jamboree, many scouts swap badges.
In lexicography, "Jamboree" is considered an Americanism that traces back to 1860–65 and refers to a joyful, noisy gathering.[1] The term is believed to originate from the words jabber (rapid, indistinct talk) and shivaree (noisy celebration), with "m" from jam (crowd).[2]
The Scouting program became an international success following its founding by Robert Baden-Powell in 1907. With its continuing growth, the founder of the movement saw a need for a gathering of representatives of Scouting from all around the world. The general aim was to foster a worldwide brotherhood, and to help the young Scouts in the movement learn about other peoples and nations by direct interaction with them.
The idea of organizing such periodical international gatherings was originally conveyed to Baden-Powell by the General Chief of the Scouts of Greece, Konstantinos ("Kokos") Melas, during the 1918 international Scout meeting, in England.[4][5] Captain Melas proposed the gatherings should repeat every four years, in the same way Olympic Games were held in Ancient Greece. The suggestion was accepted with enthusiasm by Baden-Powell, who named the gatherings "Jamborees".[citation needed]
It was in 1920 that the first World Scout Jamboree was realized, held in the Olympia halls in Kensington, London. Symbolically, the Jamboree site bore the name of the birthplace of the Olympic Games, Olympia. 8,000 Scouts from 34 countries attended the event.
Thereafter, a Jamboree has been held every four years. There are two exceptions to this: no Jamboree was held between 1937 and 1947 because of the Second World War, and the 1979 Jamboree, which was to be held in Iran, was cancelled due to the political upheaval in the region at that time. The Jamboree has been held in different countries around the world. The first seven Jamborees were held in Europe. The eighth World Jamboree was held in North America where the tradition of moving the Jamboree among the continents began. As yet, Africa has not hosted a jamboree.
To replace the cancelled event of 1979, the World Scout Committee determined that an alternative celebration, the World Jamboree Year should take place. Several regional camps took place, such as the 12th Australian/4th Asia-Pacific Jamboree, held in Perth, Western Australia, along with countless Join-in-Jamboree activities— designed to allow Scouts from around the world to participate in an activity that thousands of other Scouts around the world were also participating in at the same time. This Join-in programme was reproduced again as part of the Scouting 2007 Centenary celebrations.
The greatest attendance of all Jamborees was in 2019, where over 45,000 members experienced a Jamboree in West Virginia, US. This number represented the permanent contingent who remained for the entire event. They were joined by hundreds of thousands of visiting Scouts who participated on a day basis.
The first Jamboree was more akin to an exhibition of Scouting, allowing visitors to see how things were done in other parts of the world. The Second Jamboree was conducted on a camp basis and each successive Jamboree has developed on this format where the programme is typically more activity oriented, with plenty of time for Scouts from different nations to interact and learn about each other in less formal ways than an exhibition would allow.
The 21st World Scout Jamboree in 2007 was held in Hylands Park, Essex, United Kingdom, and celebrated the Centenary of Scouting. Because of this, the honour of hosting the event was again bestowed upon the United Kingdom, as the birthplace of Scouting. Over 40,000 young people camped in August at Hylands Park in Chelmsford, Essex. Hundreds of thousands of day visitors attended events in the south-east of England as part of the Jamboree.
The 25th World Scout Jamboree was at Saemangeum in South Korea from 2 to 12 August 2023. It was accompanied by great heat from the beginning, several contingents, including British and American, therefore left the camp.[8][9][10] On August 7, the Korean government decided to end the jamboree in Saemangeum early and to evacuate the participants to Seoul, the heat wave was to be replaced by a tropical storm. The jamboree program continued in the capital city of Seoul, with participants staying at various locations throughout the city, including military bases and universities. The closing ceremony was held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, which hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup.[11]
Jamboree on the Air, usually referred to as JOTA, is an international Scouting and Guiding activity held annually on the third full weekend in October. The event was first held in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Scouting in 1957, and was devised by radio amateur operator Leslie R. Mitchell who used the callsign G3BHK. It is now considered the largest event organized by the WOSM annually.[13]
Scouts talking on the radio during Jamboree On The Air
Amateur radio operators from all over the world participate with over 500,000 Scouts and Guides to teach them about radio and to assist them to contact their fellow Scouts and Guides by means of amateur radio and since 2004, by the VOIP-based Echolink. Scouts and Guides are also encouraged to send paper or electronic confirmations known as "QSL cards", or "eQSLs" when they are sent electronically. This provides the Scouts and Guides with a means of learning about fellow Scouts and Guides from around the world. It is an adjunct to the World Scout Jamboree.
The event is recognized as one of international participation by the various Scout and Guide organisations, and supports several awards which are a part of Scouting and Guiding programmes.[citation needed]
Scouts at their computers during Jamboree on the Internet
Jamboree on the Internet, known by its acronym JOTI, is an international Scouting activity held annually. Participants, through the use of designated Chats from all over the world, can contact their fellow Scouts by means of the Internet. Common communication methods include ScoutLink (IRC), e-mail, and VOIP. This provides the Scouts with a means of learning about fellow Scouts from around the world. JOTI operates alongside JOTA (Jamboree on the Air) and is an official event of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
JOTI was pioneered in 1995 by Queanbeyan Rovers whilst one Rover, Norvan Vogt was on a student exchange in the Netherlands, with the home crew in Australia co-ordinated by Brett Sheffield. They connected Putten, Netherlands and Queanbeyan, Australia with dedicated IRC servers.[14] In November 1996 the World Scout Committee, noting that Scouting already had a considerable presence on the Internet, and that there was already an informal and rapidly growing Jamboree on the Internet, decided that JOTI should become an official international Scouting event, and that it should be held on the same weekend as the Jamboree on the Air (JOTA).[citation needed]
JOTI Radio Logo
2011 saw the first ever 'JOTI Radio' station, a broadcast internet radio station based in the UK to provide entertainment for the JOTI weekend, which had live interviews from Scouts all over the world, the team that lead JOTI Radio are made up of the 'Avon Scout Radio' team, which are a County Active Support Unit for Avon Scouts and provide broadcast radio services within the Scouting Movement worldwide. JOTI Radio is now part of the annual JOTA/JOTI weekend.[citation needed]
Following on the idea of the Join-in events from the World Jamboree Year, Jamboree on the Trail (or JOTT),[15] is a co-ordinated event where Scouts around the world simultaneously participate in local hikes. It takes place on an annual basis on the 2nd Saturday in May.
This type of event allows Scouts to take part in activities at the same time as other Scouts, promoting the idea of the Scouting brotherhood. Participants are awarded a JOTT badge as a recognition of having participated in this worldwide event.
Smaller events
There are up to ten smaller Jamboree (or Jamborette) events held each year around the world. This includes Regional Jamborees, which are held every three years in their areas of the world. Scouts from outside these regions are invited, but attendance is generally lower (for example, the EuroJam 2005 event hosted 10,000 Scouts, mostly from Europe).
National associations, and sub-national groups, also organise a number of events, such as the WINGS event and KIJ, which is organised by a County level body.
Jamboree on the Air, known by its acronym JOTA, is an international Scouting and Guiding activity held annually; it is on the third full weekend in October. First held in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Scouting in 1957, it was devised by Leslie R. Mitchell, a radio amateur with the callsign G3BHK. It is now considered the largest event scheduled by the World Organization of the Scout Movement annually.
Jamboree on the Internet, known by its acronym JOTI, is an international Scouting activity held annually. Participants, through the use of designated Chats from all over the world, can contact their fellow Scouts by means of the Internet. Common communication methods include ScoutLink (IRC), e-mail, and VOIP. This provides the Scouts with a means of learning about fellow Scouts from around the world. JOTI operates alongside Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) and is an official event of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
Jamboree on the Trail, known by its acronym JOTT, is a co-ordinated international Scouting activity held annually, following on the idea of the Join-in events from the World Jamboree Year. Scouts from all over the world simultaneously participate in their local area by holding a hiking event.
In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts and/or Girl Guides who rally at a national or international level.
The Mongolyn Skautyn Kholboo, the national Scouting organization of Mongolia, was founded in 1992, and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1994. The coeducational Mongolyn Skautyn Kholboo has 8,822 members as of 2011.
The World Federation of Independent Scouts (WFIS) is a non-governmental international Scouting organization with over 7 million members in 151 affiliated Scout organizations in 65 countries. WFIS was formed in Laubach, Germany, in 1996 by Lawrie Dring, a British Scouter with the independent Baden-Powell Scouts' Association (BPSA).
The Danish Scout Council is the national Scouting federation of Denmark. Scouting was founded in Denmark in 1909 and it was among the charter members of WOSM in 1920. Denmark has 70,000 Scouts.
The Sri Lanka Scout Association, is a Scouting organization in Sri Lanka operated by the Ceylon Scout Council. The Ceylon Scout Council is a corporation formed by Act No. 13 of 1957. The association became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1953. The coeducational Sri Lanka Scout Association has 33,709 members as of 2014. in 2016 the year that the National Organisation reached 104 years the Scouting Population in Sri Lanka had increased to 55,078 the growth taking place against the year 2015 was 29% which was a great achievement by the SLSA.
The 21st World Scout Jamboree was held in July and August 2007 and formed a part of the Scouting 2007 Centenary celebrations of the world Scout Movement. The event was hosted by the United Kingdom, as 2007 marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of Scouting on Brownsea Island.
The Scouting 2007 Centenary comprised celebrations around the world in which Scouts celebrated 100 years of the world Scout movement. The original celebrations were focused on the United Kingdom, such as the camp on Brownsea Island, the birthplace of Scouting, and the 21st World Scout Jamboree in Chelmsford, Essex.
The 8th World Scout Jamboree was held in August 1955, it was hosted by Canada at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The Jamboree saw the introduction of the World Membership Badge which is still worn on the uniforms of Scouts worldwide.
The 15th World Scout Jamboree was scheduled to be held 15–23 July 1979 and was to be hosted by Iran at Nishapur, but was cancelled due to the Iranian Revolution which took place in 1979.
The 5th World Scout Jamboree was the World Scout Jamboree where 81-year-old Robert Baden-Powell gave his farewell.
The 20th World Scout Jamboree took place in the naval base in Sattahip, Thailand between 28 December 2002 and 8 January 2003 - the 62nd anniversary of the death of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement. It was the second World Jamboree to be held in Southeast Asia after the Philippines hosted the event in 1959.
The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve, often shortened as Summit Bechtel Reserve (SBR), located in Fayette and Raleigh counties, near Beckley, West Virginia, is one of four facilities managed by the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The others are Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, Northern Tier National High Adventure Bases in Minnesota, as well as Manitoba and Ontario in Canada, and Florida National High Adventure Sea Base in the Keys. The Summit Bechtel Reserve is the current home of the National Scout Jamboree, the Paul R. Christen National High Adventure Base, the James C. Justice National Scout Camp, and the John D. Tickle National Training and Leadership Center. The reserve comprises properties totaling over 14,000 acres (57 km2). The facility's opening event was the 2013 National Scout Jamboree.
The European Scout Jamboree is an international Scouting jamboree, which is organized at irregular times by the European Scout Region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM).
The 25th World Scout Jamboree was held from 1–12 August 2023 at Saemangeum, North Jeolla, South Korea, hosted by Korea Scout Association with the theme, "Draw Your Dream". About 43,000 participants from 158 countries attended. The location, Saemangeum, is a reclaimed tidal flat on the coast of the Yellow Sea in South Korea. The campsite is flat, overlooks the sea on one side and features a view of the mountains. The site is about 8.8 square kilometres (3.4 sq mi), 6.2 km × 1.7 km.
Leslie R. "Les" Mitchell, a Scouter and a radio amateur with the callsign G3BHK, was the founder of Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA), now considered the largest event scheduled by the World Organization of the Scout Movement annually.
The Asia-Pacific Scout Region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement has run or sponsored region-wide Asia-Pacific Scout Jamborees in its member countries, originally known as Pan-Pacific Jamborees.
The 26th World Scout Jamboree is an upcoming World Scout Jamboree that is scheduled to be held in 2027 in Gdańsk, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Northern Poland. Participants will be between the ages of 14 and 17. Individuals who are older than 18 years of age can take part as volunteer International Service Team (IST) members. The event will mark 120 years since the beginning of Scouting worldwide, which will be an important part of the programme.
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