Went to a street festival over the weekend. Festivals always look like so much fun, don’t they. It’s something about the atmosphere of stuffing three hundred thousand people into a couple of blocks for a weekend. Enjoy the food, watch the people, buy the merchandise, wonder why the bands playing there haven’t made it big… then listen to the music and wonder no longer.
It always looks like about 98% of the people are just roaming around looking at things, with 1% of the people being stall and shop owners, and the remaining 1% being the people who are actually eating, shopping, or otherwise participating in the available activities.
There are three tricky things to do in a festival of any magnitude. One of them involves eating a souvlaki with one hand while trying to hold the can of Coke in the other. The second is trying to move around in one of these crowds. And the third is trying to stay still in one of these crowds. And believe me (parent mode on) – none of these are made easier when accompanied by a wheeled device of perambulatory qualities.
For both the latter activities, it’s easiest just to go with the flow. Just follow the people in front of you. It doesn’t really matter where they’re going – just follow them and enjoy the scenery and atmosphere. Somewhere at the front, there’s a single person who is determining the destination of thousands of people. Let’s hope he’s not going to the toilet.
