Flugtag was this past Saturday in Austin. Since it's an event orchestrated and sponsored solely by a beverage, Red Bull, I felt it fair game to review it here. Flugtag Austin 2007 was, in a word, awful. The parking shuttle was a joke, taking riders three (3) blocks from 4th and Guadalupe to the north side of the South 1st St Bridge. What a waste of gas, time, and effort. What a frustration for riders to discover they weren't being taken to the entrance of Auditorium Shores, but a mere 5 minute walk away where they'd have to negotiate a bunch of inflated Red Bull arches and what seemed like a zillion people?
After walking and walking and walking, we finally made it through the actual gate and found a spot to spread our blanket. We sat down and waited. Unfortunately, a large group of people in front of us stood up to see the platform, thereby prompting everyone else to stand to see as well. We had hauled our blanket for nothing.
The event announcers were from one of the local radio stations' morning crews. Ugh. They introduced the judges, being sure to note multiple times that the sole Olympic athlete on the panel had also posed nude in Playboy. Klassy. I'm sure all the parents in the crowd appreciated their 4 and 5 year olds hearing this. As a feminist, you just know it made me beam with pride knowing an Olympian isn't as well known for her athletic skill as she is for baring her body in the pages of a magazine. [Insert giant eye roll.]
On to the event! Or so we thought. The first group appeared on the runway and music started. Turns out it was the wrong music. There was much fumbling and the announcers cracked jokes and referred to the Olympian's breasts again. Then new music started. Oops, it was wrong too. Wait, no it wasn't. It started again. Finally the first group took off toward the water and fell in. Like the team's plunge, the event was all downhill from there.
The beer line wasn't that bad; however, when I got to the front, after being skipped by two very self-entitled WASPs, I was informed they were out of the first two beers on the menu and I had a choice of Tecate and Lone Star. Seeing as how Lone Star makes me ill, I got Tecate. It was so hot that afternoon, the beer was warm by the time I found my way back to our blanket. I couldn't see the teams anymore since everyone was standing up now and the heat was so unrelenting, I gave up and sat down, grumpily drinking my beer. A woman behind me rejoined her group, telling them the vendors had run out of bottled water. Uh-oh. That did not bode well.
We decided to leave after the third team had their turn. We called our friends who were going to meet us to tell them not to bother. I felt the afternoon to be a total waste and I vowed never to go to this poorly planned event ever again. Thanks Red Bull--your event managed to make me feel miserable... definitely without wings.
3 comments:
I got hot just reading this....and definitely not in the good way.
Sorry baby!
Eh, it's not like I drink their crappy beverage anyway, so no consumer loyalty lost. There was none to begin with.
I have to say this fiasco has made me pledge to choose my outdoor festival attendance more precisely. This town loves a festival; however, promoters and planners haven't yet figured out how to properly accommodate everyone to make it worth my time and money.
We went and had a pretty bad experience as well. First, we walked from the Statesman (we did not know about the shuttle) and got into a nasty, hot, slow line to wait to get into Auditorium Shores. Then I heard people leaving who were saying that you could not see anything inside the park. So we crossed over the bridge and watched from the other side. We could not hear the announcer. We left after about five or six jumps. We were hot and hungry and miserable.
We decided that if we ever do it again, it must be done in a canoe. Those people were smart!
I hope you are not doing ACL! So. Damn. Hot. And. Crowded. Once was enough for me to know that I never want to experience that again.
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