Having never been to this particular festival I didn’t know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised by all the groovers both on and off stage. Obviously my plans to stay for just an hour or so did not work out—having too much fun… Oh well. There’s always next weekend to catch up on some work.

And yes, I tried leaving my camera in the car (even managed to do so most of the night), but the fire event proved too good an opportunity to hone my skills shooting in challenging light situations.

There was plenty of dancing around the fire.

Embracing the heat…

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• Northey St City Farm

Congested roads out of Brisbane almost prevented us from witnessing the Opening Ceremony—I should have known better: Friday afternoon on a long weekend. Like many others I got stuck into the comedian Sean Choolbury straight after the ceremony. He had us all in stitches in no time.

Among my the acts that stood out for me were The Clown From Snowy River, many dance groups (incl. Native American Dancers & The Chooky Dancers) and bands that have mastered the art of live performance: Banawurun & Zenith.

Banawurun

An appreciative audience

With only a few showers the weather was mostly fine—nothing like the downpour we endured last Woodford Festival. And while our subtropical winter is starting to get a little chilly, there were plenty of campfires to keep us warm and dry well into the night.

It will take me quite some time to process the many images taken during the festival: performers & audience, please allow a few weeks for me to send them to you.

More Info

• Official website of the The Dreaming Festival

I was lucky enough to capture most of it. I’ll try and upload images to either my Eyeballism site, or Flickr ASAP.

Elvis?

At the end of the walk.

Way to go zombies—hopefully see you all again next year.

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• www.zombiewalkbrisbane.com

Decided to stay on for a few days and help restore order to the festival precinct. It also gave me a chance to enjoy the delightful company of the witty and talented musician & journalist Tom Valsberg. Together we spent a few days cleaning up the site. It provided us with a different perspective of the festival (where’s all the people/the venues & what’s this mess we’re in?).

I would like to thank all the folks at the media centre for their support during the festival (Jinki, Pat, Ross and Brian in particular). The media centre crew were all great and tremendously helpful (they went as far as sourcing alternative sleeping arrangements when my tent had taken on a bit too much water—thanks Pat).

A heartfelt thank-you also to all performers: your skills are simply amazing. As per usual it was hard to catch more than a few glimpses of the entire programme. Wacko & Blotto: I think I will have regained my composure by the time we next meet… As of yet, I am still sorting content and have not yet started finalizing it—I will get in touch with you all ASAP.

Aw shucks…. Another year passes by…

Fences & empty streets

Show of defiance

Over 5,000 people gathered for what must have been one of the shortest routes in rally history: three blocks from Town Hall to Hyde Park (the route was petitioned by police in the courts). Organisers called the turnout a success despite the fact that forecasted showers probably kept a lot of people away while others would have felt intimidated by police statements to the media: “expect trouble.”

The scene in the street was so Australian: teachers, Rabbitohs, wharfies, university students, families with strollers and guys from the fire brigade marching in thongs. Kids with fuzzy beards shared the road with ancient aristocrats of the left who have been at this work since the 1960s.

David Marr, Sydney Morning Herald

No sign of shortage here.

The crowd also included an individual who had left his thinking cap at home: I stood rather close to the birdbrain alleged to have thrown darts at police officers. While I did not actually see him do it he sure seemed mighty guilty after he was caught out by one of the protesters: cowering and trying to hide he had a guilty expression of “darn, what did I just do” written all over his face. Not long afterwards he was arrested (the crowd seemed not all that keen on granting him amnesty by letting him hide among the multitude).

Show of force

Yes, security was tight: 3,500 NSW police, 500 federal police and 1,500 Australian Defense Force personnel. Dogs, guns, snipers and choppers were never far from my eyes.

My own experiences with police officers during APEC were a bit of a mixed bag. Most seemed friendly and courteous. They had a job to do, and seemed successful at it. Others were downright rude and aggressive. Like the officer directing me not to take pictures of the fence. Let’s call him Officer Joe. Why would Joe “suggest” such a thing?

Joe, I know it’s awfully exciting to have all these big noses come your way, but… don’t forget you are there to protect and serve. Let’s not have such an annoying concept as the law get in the way of your directions, shall we? I do, after all, have the right to take photographs—even of security fences.

Cops & cameras

At the tail-end of the rally security chiefs took what seems a downright bad decision: arrest those responsible for organising the rally. Why was that? The event was over—people were leaving. On top of that, the force used to arrest these people seemed excessive.

Sydney Declaration

The so-called Sydney Declaration, a supposedly green document aiming to curb greenhouse gas emissions, seems worth little more than the paper it is written on. I hope that the future will prove me wrong, but for the time being I remain skeptical.

The “Sydney Declaration” does not set an overall target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but it does commit APEC members to trying to improve energy efficiency by at least 25 per cent by 2030.

ABC News

How does that work? It resembles little more than New Year Resolutions. And we all know what happens to them.

Yann Arthus Bertrand, an experienced photographer, has put together a collection of his images taken in over 70 countries. Most photos were shot from a hot air balloon. If you can’t make it to the exhibition itself, make sure to check out the photographer’s website.

You may also be interested in buying his book from Amazon.

Urban Stream, Darling Harbour

Wide variety of excellent images in the collection.

Take your time and read the captions.

Now in it’s 13th year, it is going strong; an estimated 40,000 people attended the festival. The day started out cold but fine, and the sun stayed with us throughout the day.

An impressive and very well put together parade was once again a piece de resistance. Among it’s highlights the performance of Hearts, Hands and Feet. All dressed in white, they were in stark contrast with the clear blues skies.

Hands, Heart & Feet at the parade

Musicians, clowns, street theater performers and buskers were free to play, and play they did. Children were loving it: dressed up adults, facepainting and plenty of entertainers to keep them well amused.

The sun was not all that great for photography because of subjects’ tendency to squint, and harsh shadows made snapping quality shots problematic. I resorted to using flash most of the day, despite the abundance of light.

All in all, a great day. Thank you to all who made it happen—I had a ball.

More Winter Magic Festival pictures on my flickr page.