multiversallogs | open log :: time made me soft around the edges

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open log :: time made me soft around the edges

Who: Everyone.
What: The Harvest Festival!
Where: Howl Barrow outdoor park
When: Through the weekend.
Notes: The companion OOC post for this log is here if you have any questions or concerns!
Warnings: Please give me a head's up if a thread contains something that should be edited into this section.

Locations: COSTUME PARTY, COSTUME PARTY - VIP, MARKET STREET, CARNIVAL GAMES, THE PARK.

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Baedal doesn't do Halloween; it's far too much of a kitschy Earth thing, and the practice of luring children to one's home with candy is one that is frowned upon. Costume parties in the city's context are not about being frightening, but about entertaining each other – showing off, relaxing after a season of work and toil. Most of the people in the Howl Barrow outdoor park are working-class, wearing masks and altered everyday clothes, dancing to local musicians and sharing cocktails. Lights encircle the open area where the dance floor has been created, offering warmth in the chilly night as well as illumination. People who aren't costumed are allowed as well, of course, but the festivity encourages participation.

A short ways away, still in the park, a historic farmhouse-turned-museum is open as a VIP area for the costume party. Respectable costume wear is required, as well as a small donation to the local civic center (a shekel or two will do). The tone is less frenetic, though it still carries a distinct party feel – the dance music is more graceful, the indoor lighting offering a warm glow. Sharply dressed volunteers carry trays of treats made with the bounty of the harvest itself, and flutes of locally-bottled champagne. A few cheery people in old-fashioned Baedal formalwear hang around the sides of the ballroom-like dance floor, offering on-the-fly waltzing lessons.

It's not highly refined class, but its a bit of regal fun for one evening.

Edited 2012-11-15 22:02 (UTC)

To showcase the results of the harvest, farmers and vendors have set up stalls along one of Howl Barrow's main pedestrian drags, selling food and fresh produce, offering demonstrations on how to make simple, fun dishes – one open tent teaches cooking classes every two hours, most of which result in hilarity. The cafes along the street are doing jumping business this evening, serving mostly drinks (from cocktails to milkshakes) and offering people places to sit and watch the festivities. Some thoughtful citizen at a point after nightfall helpfully released and entire jar of glowbugs, and their blue and yellow dot-of-light bodies hover cheerfully over the heads of the spectators. (Just don't let them land in your hair, they're kind of sticky.)

No outdoor seasonal event is complete without the opportunity to dunk local clergy in water tanks via hurling blunt objects at them. Several higher ranking priests and priestess of Carme, and two or three TMU professors, are lined up to be dunked for charity. (One particularly famous professor has taken to enthusiastically heckling his students when they miss. He is making his charity a fortune.) Darts for stuffed toys, pie eating contests, and other standards line the canton's central courtyard. There's a small stage for artistic performances, as well – dancers, contortionists, and the like. A handful of wooden benches are strewn before it, occupied by wandering patrons, usually munching on snacks from the market.

The far reaches of the park in Howl Barrow are always a little sketchy – it's edged with Joyland, and past that, the Spatters, and the fog likes to send tendrils creeping, from time to time. But when it's a clear night, it's perfectly lovely – dark sky, bright stars, the light and noise from the festival offering a warm backdrop, and the silhouette of the sometimes-functional theme park seems beautiful, albeit in a sometimes haunting way. There are trails and benches, trees and expanses of open grass, and it's a nice place to get some air, or just wander.

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