Unexpected awesomeness

I love it when plans turn out so much better than expected!

Our city has a number of winter festival events going on.  Most of the time, we ignore them.  It's cold, there's lots of crowds, and the entertainment events are usually not the type we like.  For those farther away from us, there's the added irritation of either driving and finding parking, or taking transit that may or may not actually go anywhere near the event.

One of the handy things about these events, however, is that a prime location for them is just a few blocks from us, across the street from our local library.  During a recent outing to the library with Eldest, we saw things were being set up in the square, so we checked it out before heading home.  We found a sign that piqued our interest enough to look it up on the city's website and decided that we might actually want to check it out, if only to hear the choir.  There was supposed to be some kind of circus thing going on, which we were curious about, but that's about it.  We're not big circus fans, except maybe Cirque du Soleil.  There was mention of pyrotechnics worked into the show, and past glimpses of that sort of thing had left us unimpressed.

It was a bitterly cold night when we headed out.  We didn't bother being there for the start and just made sure we were in time to hear the choir.  They were fabulous!  We had only a vague idea of what to expect based on the descriptions.  The choir was put together for this event only, and was made up of some of the best singers of other local choirs.  Having enjoyed listening to some of these choirs, we knew it would be good, and we weren't disappointed.  We've got some really great singers in our city!  One of the songs, which was something like 10 minutes long, did drive a few listeners away, though.  Part of that could be blamed on the sound system, though!  Especially when the sopranos kicked it up a notch.  I think they could have done with the microphones quite a bit farther away from them, but with the space they were using, that wasn't exactly an option. 

There was other entertainment besides the choir, including actors in character wandering around the square.  After the choir, though, we had about an hour before their second performance, in connection with the circus thing.  So we went to the library's coffee shop for some hot drinks, bypassing another shop right on the square that looked absolutely full.  Glad we went when we did, because it didn't take long for the coffee shop to be overflowing with people coming in to warm up with some hot drinks!  When we finished and got up to leave, a guy with his two small children saw us and sent them over the grab the table right away.  Good thinking, on his part!  Not that there were enough seats for all three of them to sit, but better than nothing! *L*  What a crowd!

Then it was off into the cold again.  We eventually figured out where the choir was going to perform again and managed to be right in front.  They did their one song, then the all turned around to grab lanterns on poles behind them and wandered off into the crowd.  Then the circus thing started.

There was a main stage set up behind where the choir sang, and during their song we did see costumed performers gathering on the side, then moving around someplace else.  I still expected the show to be on the main stage.  I was completely wrong!  Instead, there were a series of stages, with the performers leading the crowd from one to another, pausing for a brief show before moving on to the next.  There was a giant tricycle, flames, explosions, fireworks, clowns, stilt walkers and aerial displays, all set to just the right music for the performances.  The entire crowd was led from staging area to staging area (Eldest and I eventually got separated and didn't even try to find each other again until the end of the show - though Youngest would have loved it, the crowd along would have prevented her from actually enjoying the show).  I'm usually don't enjoy shows that attempt audience participation; they tend to be very uncomfortable and forced, I find.  Not this time!  The audience participation was enthusiastic.  Clearly, the people around has hadn't known what to expect any more than we did, and they were all eagerly moving to each event, looking forward to what would be waiting for them. 

The procession of performers eventually came back to the main stage for the finale, which involved more flamed and fireworks and ended with an amazing aerial display of pyrotechnics surrounding the aerial performer.  It was absolutely fantastic!

All in all, Eldest and I were outside for about an hour and a half for this.  It was so cold, my camera batteries kept dying and I had to shove the camera under my coat and into my armpit to warm it up enough to take a few more shots.  I took more video than stills, actually.  I spent most of the time with my camera held up high, hoping it was pointed in the right direction, because I couldn't really see all that much.  What is it with tall people that insist on pushing themselves to the front?  It seemed that every time the procession stopped for a show, some big guy would end up right in front of me, sticking his head into my camera view.  I'd move to the side... the head would move to the side.  I'd move to the other side... the head would move back in front of me.  It's not like they could see me trying to take photos behind them and were doing it on purpose, but geez!  What an annoyance. *L*

Still, the show was so fantastic, it didn't matter.  We were totally blown away with awesome.  Then we ducked into a nearby theatre to warm up while I called Dh for a ride home!  Sure, we could have walked home in just a few minutes, but after so much time outside, I figured warming up was more important.

And to think that, because of the cold and my usual distaste for crowds, I was thinking it would be no big deal if we just stayed home, instead.  I'm glad we made the effort to check it out.  It was absolutely worth standing out in the cold to see!