[First filed: Sep 29, 2010 @ 16:59]
[photo courtesy of ACT Tourism]
Floriade’s Nightfest took place over the weekend just gone and I was lucky enough to be invited.
Floriade by day is a known quantity. The sun shines. The brass band plays in a corner. The crowds stumble over the tripods of a hundred aspiring photogs.
One might have a cup of coffee.
Nightfest surprised me by being quite different.
It might seem obvious from the name but, well, it’s much more like a festival. Night also brings a whiff of menace which creates an un-nerving but very pleasant dissonance with the familiar and family friendly landscape of Floriade.
Throw in bars and contemporary music to get a radically different vibe.
The moist night air carries the scent of the thousands of tulips far better than the dry day as well.
When I got there at 6.20 a lot of people with tickets were all queued up waiting for the gates to open so it might be worth rolling up around 7 as long as you’re not planning on queuing for some of the specialty tents.
The lighting of the flower beds does not make them better or worse, but it does alter the perception of them dramatically.
But with all the wonder and magic it brings I almost want to shout “give me more”. Something fringey, a bit of carnivale.
And given the setting and that it’s at night why not have a light sculpture competition? Encourage more imaginations to run wild on the glorious canvas?
It’s a young event, there’s plenty of time to grow and they’re heading in the right direction.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do with it next year.
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