my brother came for a visit yesterday, so we thought we'd 'mosey' on down and check out the fitzroy street fiesta...
this is how it was advertised...
Celebrate the new look Fitzroy Street on 4 October at the Fitzroy Street Fiesta.
We're closing off the beach end of Fitzroy Street for the Fitzroy Street Fiesta.
Fitzroy Street has been refurbished as part of the Foreshore Connections project.
There'll be something for everyone including:
Circa Nica - circus performances
Roller Derby demonstrations
Food
Live dj's
Special menus from some of Melbourne's leading restaurants
Rock Climbing
Mini Golf
Kids Art
Roving Entertainment
Roller Derby demonstrations
Food
Live dj's
Special menus from some of Melbourne's leading restaurants
Rock Climbing
Mini Golf
Kids Art
Roving Entertainment
sounds like a lot happening - but it was on a very small scale... the roving entertainment we saw consisted of 2 stilt walkers... circus was a couple of jugglers...mini-golf was miniscule... food was barbecued dead animal sausages cooked right in front of the one and only dj we saw... rock climbing - well don't know where that was happening... kids art - saw a few piñatas hanging in a tree... and melbourne's leading restaurants were just the standard fitzroy street restaurants and cafes selling their normal food at mostly inflated prices...
the roller derby demonstration by the young womyn was interesting... it must have been really difficult skating on rough bitumen - it would have hurt like hell if they'd fallen over - not like the surface they'd be used to skating on... regular readers would know i was into the roller derby decades ago - i wrote about it in my post 'a bit of a 60s reminisce' ... it's become a really 'empowering' activity these days for young womyn, with teams such as THE DEAD RINGER ROSIES and the TOXIC AVENGERS...
drew barrymore has made her 'directorial debut' with a movie called 'whip it' about a young womon's search for her niche and finding her place within a roller derby team - here's a trailer - it's released this week in australia if you're interested...
anyway, unimpressed as we were with the so-called 'fiesta', we walked on around and checked out the esplanade market, and then went and got a yummy (but expensive) mediterranean pizza to share... i guess at least it was tasty - even basic pizzas can be 'hit'n'miss' these days!!!!
Were you expecting another St Kilda Festival? Thank heavens it wasn't that. I was at the fiesta on Sunday with my family. I spoke to someone at council, and apparently it was up to restaurants and traders to do their part in making the street lively as they were ultimately going to benefit along with people visiting. unfortunately none of them seemed to even care and did not offer any street food other than the rather pathetic bbq you noticed. The council's intention was to encourage a family day where the focus was not on screaming bands and alcohol like other festivals in said area evolve around. It was also to introduce people to the new crossings and works in that area. The entertainment provided by council was great. My kids had a fantastic time, having their faces painted and watching the strange performances while we sat in deck chairs in the sun sipping coffee. Lovely. The street performers were spread out throughout the day, so we saw about 10 performances which drew some rather large crowds. Oh - and the rock climbing was across the road in the gardens. There was a large structure over there with people climbing all day along with some kind of giant thing that threw you up in the air on a big bungy rope contraption. I thought the activities were great, and the street felt lively and it was a welcome event as far as locals, families and people who are generally fed up with the tainted view of fitzroy street are concerned. It's just a pity that the traders did nothing to add to it. I saw it as something that could build and become a really great casual afternoon activity.
ReplyDeletei'm glad someone enjoyed it... maybe the difference was having children there....by the way - i am local and have lived in some part of st kilda for years - oooh, and i don't hide behind anonymity...
ReplyDeleteyeah, like over thirty years in StKilda and working in one of its most local, democratic, 'family friendly' and free institutions...I think that lends your opinion plenty of weight.
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