Review-Freespace Fest-WKCDA
16-12-13
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By: Meaghan McGurgan
Over the weekend I braved the rain to check out Freespace Fest. I was quite excited about it for weeks. The concept for this festival is brilliant. I was ready to see tons of accessible, public art for free in a beautiful open space. But then... the clouds decided to be jerks. Of course, the sky opened on the festival this weekend. I felt really bad for the organizers. They carried on with the show despite the weather, but there was a less joyful mood in the air because of all the rain.
Now how were the performances? The ones I saw were good. The thing about Freespace Fest is that many performances happen around the same time so you can't really catch them all. We caught the Parkour show which was scaled down a bit due to safety reasons because of the rain. Your heart leapt into your chest when you saw them climbing on that big wet tower. Kids and audiences seemed to really enjoy the show and the performers' enthusiasm.
Live musicians played at two different pavilions. The musicians were lucky as there were big tarps over the stage to protect them and the electrical equipment. The large music pavilion was epically large and beautifully designed.
There were also performance artists on hand. They had built beautiful structures for their performances that were sadly soggy but still pretty. People seemed to enjoy interacting with the performers and having their photos taken with the art. I felt sad for the installation artists who had to have their work covered with plastic to preserve it. All that time to show a piece off in a public forum and it has to stay wrapped up? What a bummer...
Freespace Fest was poised to be the event of the weekend but sadly lost a battle to Mother Nature.
I had a very good time in the rain. And like me, many of the kids enjoyed the puddles.
The clouds may have won this time but I'm sure the festival will be back next year with sunny skies. The price we pay for free outdoor theatre is that sometimes it rains.
Freespace Fest has now closed. For more information, click here.
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