Jamboree (Scouting)

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Closing Ceremony of the 20th World Scout Jamboree, held in Thailand in 2002/2003

In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts who rally at a national or international level.

The 1st World Scout Jamboree was held in 1920, and was hosted by the United Kingdom. Since then, there have been twenty one World Scout Jamborees, hosted in various countries, generally every four years.

There are also national and continental jamborees held around the world with varying frequency. Many of these events will invite and attract Scouts from overseas.

The 21st World Scout Jamboree, hosted in the United Kingdom ran from 27th July to 8th August 2007, forms part of the Scouting Centenary celebrations and was held at Hylands Park in Chelmsford, Essex. England.

1 Etymology
2 International jamborees
3 National jamborees
4 See also

[edit] Etymology

The etymology of this term has several possible origins, ranging from Hindi to Swahili to Native American dialects. It may also be related to corroboree, an Australian Aboriginal term for any noisy, late-night gathering or disturbance.

Baden-Powell chose the name as rally, meeting and gathering did not fully capture the spirit of this then-new concept. The name is thought to be derived from the Swahili for hello, jambo, as a result of the considerable amount of time he spent in the region. At the first world jamboree at Olympia in 1920, Lord Baden-Powell said "People give different meanings for this word, but from this year on, jamboree will take a specific meaning. It will be associated to the largest gathering of youth that ever took place."

Olave, Lady Baden-Powell, coined the term jamborese to refer to the lingua franca used between Scouts of different languages and cultural habits, that develops when diverse Scouts meet, that fosters friendship and understanding between Scouts of the world. Sometimes the word jamborette is used to denote smaller, either local or international, gatherings.

Girl Guides rarely use the term jamboree for their gatherings. Girl Scouts, however, do use the word.

The term 'jamboree' is also commonly used by the Australian Aboriginal Pitjanjarra tribe meaning 'Feast of tree grubs'.^{[citation needed]}