Moomba Festival

As some of you may know, the Moomba festival recently drew to a close in Melbourne. For those of you who don't know, the Moomba festival is an annual 4 day festival showcasing the arts, music and culture of the area.  I went on both saturday and sunday, and had a blast both days.


In many ways, the festival reminded me of the annual country fairs back in my old town. There were rides, sideshows, and of course the traditional festival food. Mmmm. There were also multiple music stages and many acts, ranging from some pretty big names (Lisa Mitchell, Illy), to lesser known up and coming and cultural acts. To round out the musical aspect, there was also a silent disco. To those of you not familiar with the concept, look it up. There's nothing quite like kicking it to some house music, getting bored and switching over to 1920's jazz.

Mmmm

On the river, waterskiing events were held most of the day, until the sun began to set and preparations for the nightly fireworks festival began. The spruiker on the main stage claimed that these were the biggest free fireworks display in Australia (probably not true), and that we would have an excellent view from our position in front of the stage (definitely not true).

Wish our view had been this good.

One of the many highlights and probablt the most well known event at the festival would have to be the birdman rally on sunday. Here, members of the public risk their lives (primarily to the not-so-sanitary water of the Yarra river), and showcase their home-made flying contraptions. A surprise result this year, as 5 time winner Michael Paul is pipped for the prize by a newcomer.

5 time winner Michael Paul.

Unfortunately I was not able to attend the iconic Moomba parade on Monday due to uni commitments, but overall the festival was a very enjoyable experience and a great way to properly kick off this blog. Can't wait for next year!