Festival: A Great Success!
by James Hopschotch.Last evening was the third instalment of the Festival of Light. It was a great success, with thousands of people joining in for the parade and fireworks. The festival went off without any problems, and ended with a spectacular fireworks display lasting half an hour.
The Festival of Light is a relative new festival. It was created three years ago by a joint initiative from the city council and the St. Peter's church here in Räan. Officials from both sides announced the event to be "an ongoing commitment to improve the stature and reputation of the city and its citizens. It is a time to celebrate, and most importantly: celebrate together". The theme of the festival has caused some controversy in the past. The St. Peter's church seems to have a slightly different view then the city counsel, leading to some friction between the two. The St. Peter's church focuses on the fact that light represents the victory of good over evil, while the city council wants to emphasize that the festival is for all, and that the solidarity between citizens is most important. Despite this friction the festival went off without a hitch, and both parties commented to be "happy with the outcome".
Last year the festival was cancelled halfway through the evening, due to several major problems that occurred at the last moment. The weather was very bad at the start of the evening, with lots of rain. This rain continued during the festival and after a point even worsened when part of the Wind Catcher collapsed. After the collapse winds were let free to torment the crowds, causing some minor incidents. That year the parade was also decorated with giant plaster statues, representing St. Peter and St. Lucas. These statues eventually collapsed because of the rain, injuring three people. After that the organizers intervened and cancelled the rest of the festivities, sending the last people home.
But this year the weather was perfect. It started out quite warm, and cooled slowly until it became slightly chilly at the end of the evening. More than a thousand people attended the festival, making this the biggest festival in Räan in the last five years. The festival started at the city hall, where the whole square was transformed for the festival. The square was filled with stalls and stands, where many vendors sold candles, torches, fireworks and kites.
The Festival of Light is a relative new festival. It was created three years ago by a joint initiative from the city council and the St. Peter's church here in Räan. Officials from both sides announced the event to be "an ongoing commitment to improve the stature and reputation of the city and its citizens. It is a time to celebrate, and most importantly: celebrate together". The theme of the festival has caused some controversy in the past. The St. Peter's church seems to have a slightly different view then the city counsel, leading to some friction between the two. The St. Peter's church focuses on the fact that light represents the victory of good over evil, while the city council wants to emphasize that the festival is for all, and that the solidarity between citizens is most important. Despite this friction the festival went off without a hitch, and both parties commented to be "happy with the outcome".
Last year the festival was cancelled halfway through the evening, due to several major problems that occurred at the last moment. The weather was very bad at the start of the evening, with lots of rain. This rain continued during the festival and after a point even worsened when part of the Wind Catcher collapsed. After the collapse winds were let free to torment the crowds, causing some minor incidents. That year the parade was also decorated with giant plaster statues, representing St. Peter and St. Lucas. These statues eventually collapsed because of the rain, injuring three people. After that the organizers intervened and cancelled the rest of the festivities, sending the last people home.
But this year the weather was perfect. It started out quite warm, and cooled slowly until it became slightly chilly at the end of the evening. More than a thousand people attended the festival, making this the biggest festival in Räan in the last five years. The festival started at the city hall, where the whole square was transformed for the festival. The square was filled with stalls and stands, where many vendors sold candles, torches, fireworks and kites.
Food and drink was provided by the organisation, and many live bands were hired to liven up the festival. Organizers were at first afraid that the scandal from that morning might dampen the mood of the attendees, but in the end this was not the case. One of the attendees said "We will not have anything interrupt the festival. Politics and such don't belong here, we are here to have some fun!" Another attendee mentioned that "as long as he does not try to attend the festival himself everything will be fine".
The festival was then transported to the St. Peter's church, by means of a large parade. Almost six hundred people walked along with the parade. Everyone had some kind of illumination with him or her, be it a candle, torch or lantern. Many people began to sing songs and psalms to liven up the mood even more. The route took them past the Watch office and the main warehouse, avoiding the smaller alleyways and streets. Along the route all the houses were decorated with more lights and flowers. Watchmen cordoned off the streets, giving the parade a clear road to traverse. Watchmen also patrolled the parade and adjoining streets, to keep an eye on possible fights, which luckily did not arise. There were three arrests on charges of disturbing the general order. The offenders were however released the next day after sleeping off their inebriety, without any charges.
The festival was concluded with a large fireworks display at the St. Peter's church. For an extra spectacle all the fireworks were launched from the church roof. The organizers of the display spent the whole day working on the church roof, securing wooden platforms to launch the fireworks. The sky was illuminated by almost four hundred rockets, stars and other fireworks. The whole display took just a bit over half an hour, causing the audience to shout themselves hoarse in their admiration.
After the fireworks the crowd quickly dispersed, mostly due to the weather which took a turn for the worse. By two o'clock the city was silent again, with no incidents to speak of. This morning the cleaners will have their hands full with cleaning up the city, but no problems regarding traffic are expected.
All together it was a very successful event, one which hopefully will be repeated next year!
The festival was then transported to the St. Peter's church, by means of a large parade. Almost six hundred people walked along with the parade. Everyone had some kind of illumination with him or her, be it a candle, torch or lantern. Many people began to sing songs and psalms to liven up the mood even more. The route took them past the Watch office and the main warehouse, avoiding the smaller alleyways and streets. Along the route all the houses were decorated with more lights and flowers. Watchmen cordoned off the streets, giving the parade a clear road to traverse. Watchmen also patrolled the parade and adjoining streets, to keep an eye on possible fights, which luckily did not arise. There were three arrests on charges of disturbing the general order. The offenders were however released the next day after sleeping off their inebriety, without any charges.
The festival was concluded with a large fireworks display at the St. Peter's church. For an extra spectacle all the fireworks were launched from the church roof. The organizers of the display spent the whole day working on the church roof, securing wooden platforms to launch the fireworks. The sky was illuminated by almost four hundred rockets, stars and other fireworks. The whole display took just a bit over half an hour, causing the audience to shout themselves hoarse in their admiration.
After the fireworks the crowd quickly dispersed, mostly due to the weather which took a turn for the worse. By two o'clock the city was silent again, with no incidents to speak of. This morning the cleaners will have their hands full with cleaning up the city, but no problems regarding traffic are expected.
All together it was a very successful event, one which hopefully will be repeated next year!
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