Well, we missed the Fringe this year... comedians, weird people, a busy Rundle Street, but we got our own taste of Womad at the castle...the Kan-o-kai fastival. As I`m sure you are aware, and hopefully jealous of, it is Cherry Blossom season and after a slow start the trees are starting to look much better than I do in the morning... So, the local festival was held where else but the castle, so as we are only here for a year there was only one thing left to do... go!
We headed early for a good spot... we had heard it was going to be really busy... early indications were wrong, as there were so many empty spots we could have parked a bus in there... We got our $1 tarps, laid out the food, cracked a cold one (Diet Coke of course) and let the good times roll...
The festival was supposed to begin at 11, but just like stupid 9.30 starts in the Caribbean, rain delayed the start of play.... This time however, the covers were on the drums... We sat on our tarp and took cover under our $1 umbrellas wondering how long the rain would last. Turns out this was a long time before the start of the drumming, so whilst waiting we were waiting we endured some world music and crazy lion dancing...
Lion dancing is not to be confused with the '95 SANFL grand final, where 500 line dancers stood shoulder to shoulder around the then Footy Park slapping their knees and touching their toes... No, this was crazy flexible dudes with a lion costume on climbing up and down ladders chasing what looked to be a monkey. The costume was much like the dragon dancers China is famous for. The first one was really cool. The second one was the same dance in reverse and hence I headed for the refreshment tent...
Speaking of which, great souvenir... square Sake cup with a gold print of the Castle on it... it's big enough to be a birdbath! The Japanese have a reputation of enjoying Sake whilst at the cherry blossom festivals. No wonder... 500 yen ($5) for the cup already filled, then $1 (100 yen) for every refill. The Schutzenfest could learn from such deals...
We headed early for a good spot... we had heard it was going to be really busy... early indications were wrong, as there were so many empty spots we could have parked a bus in there... We got our $1 tarps, laid out the food, cracked a cold one (Diet Coke of course) and let the good times roll...
The festival was supposed to begin at 11, but just like stupid 9.30 starts in the Caribbean, rain delayed the start of play.... This time however, the covers were on the drums... We sat on our tarp and took cover under our $1 umbrellas wondering how long the rain would last. Turns out this was a long time before the start of the drumming, so whilst waiting we were waiting we endured some world music and crazy lion dancing...
Lion dancing is not to be confused with the '95 SANFL grand final, where 500 line dancers stood shoulder to shoulder around the then Footy Park slapping their knees and touching their toes... No, this was crazy flexible dudes with a lion costume on climbing up and down ladders chasing what looked to be a monkey. The costume was much like the dragon dancers China is famous for. The first one was really cool. The second one was the same dance in reverse and hence I headed for the refreshment tent...Speaking of which, great souvenir... square Sake cup with a gold print of the Castle on it... it's big enough to be a birdbath! The Japanese have a reputation of enjoying Sake whilst at the cherry blossom festivals. No wonder... 500 yen ($5) for the cup already filled, then $1 (100 yen) for every refill. The Schutzenfest could learn from such deals...
Anyway, I digress... Out came the drummers... Not sure exactly whether they were Taiko or Daiko or Deiko drummers... In fact, I`m not really sure if the three I just mentioned are even it... They certainly could play the drums though...
We were treated so a concert of about 50 women in kimonos playing the koto. They sounded magic, yet a bit monotonous after about the first 5 minutes of the never ending songs! All the same, they were an impressive sight all lined up on a very long stage.
In the middle of the day, quite randomly, we were graced with the precence of the Mayor of Himeji. He took off his shoes and joined us on our tarp. We offered him a chocolate brownie and some Top Deck Cadbury chocolate (of which he took the last 6 squares!). He asked if we were enjoying Himeji and chatted a bit before having to leave to meet his Sister City Mayor. Soon, the other Mayor had found his way to our tarp and was happy to chat with us as well. Before saying goodbye he did a bit of PR for his city and handed out some brochures. We all posed for this photo. After all the excitement we looked closely at the photo...we have not yet figured out who on the Earth the guy is who has positioned himself inbetween the two Mayors!! Classic.
Highlight was definitely when they cracked out the soundtracks from Double Dragon, though better than the old Nintendo music... In fact, I`ll go as far as to say it sounded nothing like the original Double Dragon soundtrack but with the xylophones humming you could have been forgiven for thinking a samurai could have popped out any second (or hungry jacks had just released a new Teryaki Burger!)... Was fantastic music and great to see live!
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