The juggling festival was a blast. Around 200 jugglers showed up altogether, probably about half were Kiwis, the rest from all over- Australia, Hawaii, Chile, France, you name it, they were there. The festival itself was in this little town of Piha, a little bit west of Auckland, renowned for its black beaches. The sand has a very high iron content resulting from long ago volcanic activity in the region; this causes the sand to have a blackish color.
Piha.
Piha beach.
As per what went on at the festival... it was pretty much just 96+ hours of straight juggling, performances, balancing on huge balls, more juggling, some fire juggling at night, tossing about diabolos (Chinese yo-yos), balancing objects on one's chin, trapeze swinging, and just general hooking up and meeting people. I learned a few new tricks- variations on passing clubs with other people, some new ball tricks, tips on juggling seven balls. Also got to try balancing on standing globes- the huge balls- which was a ton of fun. Most memorable people were: Deena from Hawaii, helped organize the International Juggling Association's festival at some point, part time biker, very well traveled; Collin from Auckland; Vanessa, a hula-hooper from New York; and Christian from Melborne, organizer of the Melbourne Juggling Convention, got a ton of tips from him, we also worked on some really strange and mind-boggling four-club-two-person passing patterns that I have very little chance of remembering how to do. I would say the best moments were trying out the standing globe, working on the dazzling four-club passing patterns, and meeting the ever-congenial Kiwis. Definitely a superb festival.
It misted slightly for about 5 minutes on the first day of the festival. When the rain stopped the sky was so clear you could see the entire length- both ends- of a brilliant rainbow in the sky.
And about two seconds later a second rainbow appeared. First time I have ever seen two rainbows side by side. Anyone else?
Bunch of people playing combat. Basically everyone juggles three clubs and then tries to beat each other up and make everyone else stop juggling. Rapidly degenerates into mass panic all around.
This guy did an amazing three basketball act with a 9+ foot unicycle at the big public show. Almost didn't fit under the tent roof while on top of the unicycle.
A circus from somewhere in NZ brought and set up their own trapeze/acrobatic playground.
Pauly (name probably spelled wrong, sorry!), one of the DJs at one of the shows. Awesome guy.
Balancing on a skateboard on top of a bowling ball.
Balancing a chair.
Guy making delicious pizza.
Deena and Collin.
This kid caught an eel. From the river next to the park where the festival was. Using a piece of meat as bait.
I got my hands on a copy of Juggle Magazine.
List of workshops.
Melbourne Juggling Convention anyone?
Handstand race. The guy with the black socks won.
Balancing on the standing globes.
Globe surfing.
Globe race. Not sure who won. I think it was the guy in white in the middle.
Multiple people on one globe.
Diabolo throwing competition. Aim was to get it as high as you could and still catch it.
Tiny (abnormally so) diabolo!!
Unicycle race/competition.
Club juggling competition.
5 ball competition. I didn't win.
Another diabolo competition. The aim was to get it into the bucket full of water on the top of the guy in the middle's head. His name was Mark. He ran the festival. Great guy. The girl who ended up landing a diabolo in the bucket was the one balancing the chair in a previous photo.
Juggling mess.
So.... I ended up hitching a ride back to the airport. Flight left at one the day the festival officially ended, and no one was going that early. So I had to hitch. Very safe,
Piha.
Piha beach.As per what went on at the festival... it was pretty much just 96+ hours of straight juggling, performances, balancing on huge balls, more juggling, some fire juggling at night, tossing about diabolos (Chinese yo-yos), balancing objects on one's chin, trapeze swinging, and just general hooking up and meeting people. I learned a few new tricks- variations on passing clubs with other people, some new ball tricks, tips on juggling seven balls. Also got to try balancing on standing globes- the huge balls- which was a ton of fun. Most memorable people were: Deena from Hawaii, helped organize the International Juggling Association's festival at some point, part time biker, very well traveled; Collin from Auckland; Vanessa, a hula-hooper from New York; and Christian from Melborne, organizer of the Melbourne Juggling Convention, got a ton of tips from him, we also worked on some really strange and mind-boggling four-club-two-person passing patterns that I have very little chance of remembering how to do. I would say the best moments were trying out the standing globe, working on the dazzling four-club passing patterns, and meeting the ever-congenial Kiwis. Definitely a superb festival.
It misted slightly for about 5 minutes on the first day of the festival. When the rain stopped the sky was so clear you could see the entire length- both ends- of a brilliant rainbow in the sky.
And about two seconds later a second rainbow appeared. First time I have ever seen two rainbows side by side. Anyone else?
Bunch of people playing combat. Basically everyone juggles three clubs and then tries to beat each other up and make everyone else stop juggling. Rapidly degenerates into mass panic all around.
This guy did an amazing three basketball act with a 9+ foot unicycle at the big public show. Almost didn't fit under the tent roof while on top of the unicycle.
A circus from somewhere in NZ brought and set up their own trapeze/acrobatic playground.
Pauly (name probably spelled wrong, sorry!), one of the DJs at one of the shows. Awesome guy.
Balancing on a skateboard on top of a bowling ball.
Balancing a chair.
Guy making delicious pizza.
Deena and Collin.
This kid caught an eel. From the river next to the park where the festival was. Using a piece of meat as bait.
I got my hands on a copy of Juggle Magazine.
List of workshops.
Melbourne Juggling Convention anyone?
Handstand race. The guy with the black socks won.
Balancing on the standing globes.
Globe surfing.
Globe race. Not sure who won. I think it was the guy in white in the middle.
Multiple people on one globe.
Diabolo throwing competition. Aim was to get it as high as you could and still catch it.
Tiny (abnormally so) diabolo!!
Unicycle race/competition.
Club juggling competition.
5 ball competition. I didn't win.
Another diabolo competition. The aim was to get it into the bucket full of water on the top of the guy in the middle's head. His name was Mark. He ran the festival. Great guy. The girl who ended up landing a diabolo in the bucket was the one balancing the chair in a previous photo.
Juggling mess.
So.... I ended up hitching a ride back to the airport. Flight left at one the day the festival officially ended, and no one was going that early. So I had to hitch. Very safe,
Where did people attending the juggling fest stay?
ReplyDeleteMajority of people stayed in tents on the festival grounds. There was also a bunkhouse on site too, so some people stayed in that.
ReplyDelete