Took the kids to opening night of the Arts Fest at the Padang last Friday. At 6.15pm, we had the pick of the best spots to park ourselves. Pity, there were no ushers to direct us about - many who came were uncertain if they could lay their mats down or whether the seats set up were open to the public. Several reporters and photographers were roving around and one landed at our spot - because we had the hugest mat! Not very experienced rep asked us (first in Mandarin) why we were there. Smart-mouth said: "For the experience." And the rep went away with that soundbite, not asking for name, age and serial number. Sloppy. The roving performers - fire-throwers, Balloon Man and Mr Smith the Nose - that came out at 7pm just stuck to the edge of the crowd, except for the Balloon Man. The place filled up very quickly and late-comers could only hang around the fringe or try to squeeze into any hole among the picnickers. The MC got us all to stand up when the performance started, which wasn't a good idea because we couldn't see the bottom of the stage and kids had to be hoisted on shoulders. If we had all sat, which we all did after seeing the wisdom in that, we could get the full view. But later, we all had to get out because the performers on the rotating wheel disembarked and started running through the audience. Our box of jambu air was trod on in their rush in the dark. They had to shout "open, open" to get us to make a path for them. And then it was "photo, photo" as they formed pyramids at various spots on the ground. Below, the Singapore volunteers were suspended and looked like larvae on a string as they were swung over the crowd by a crane and pulled into position by ground crew. Here are vids of the nights shows. Not sophisticated editing, but you get the picture!
Took the kids to opening night of the Arts Fest at the Padang last Friday. At 6.15pm, we had the pick of the best spots to park ourselves. Pity, there were no ushers to direct us about - many who came were uncertain if they could lay their mats down or whether the seats set up were open to the public. Several reporters and photographers were roving around and one landed at our spot - because we had the hugest mat! Not very experienced rep asked us (first in Mandarin) why we were there. Smart-mouth said: "For the experience." And the rep went away with that soundbite, not asking for name, age and serial number. Sloppy.
The roving performers - fire-throwers, Balloon Man and Mr Smith the Nose - that came out at 7pm just stuck to the edge of the crowd, except for the Balloon Man.
The place filled up very quickly and late-comers could only hang around the fringe or try to squeeze into any hole among the picnickers.
The MC got us all to stand up when the performance started, which wasn't a good idea because we couldn't see the bottom of the stage and kids had to be hoisted on shoulders. If we had all sat, which we all did after seeing the wisdom in that, we could get the full view.
But later, we all had to get out because the performers on the rotating wheel disembarked and started running through the audience. Our box of jambu air was trod on in their rush in the dark. They had to shout "open, open" to get us to make a path for them. And then it was "photo, photo" as they formed pyramids at various spots on the ground.
Below, the Singapore volunteers were suspended and looked like larvae on a string as they were swung over the crowd by a crane and pulled into position by ground crew.
Here are vids of the nights shows. Not sophisticated editing, but you get the picture!
No comments:
Post a Comment