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A Zombie Serpent
25/01/2025 10:00 pmIt's Fringe Festival time here in the Wild West.
The time of year when flying your Freak flag is almost obligatory.
As usual, I plan for this annual event as if I were invading Poland.
First task is to fill the treasure chest ready for raids in November.
That's when the official program is released and Fringe Friends get a few weeks to sneak peak and feast on juicy Freak Snacks.
Since anticipation is just as much fun as the shows, it adds an extra level of enjoyment.
But the biggest perks are the 30% discount on many shows along with skipping the queue.
So then it's a guessing game of picking shows that are most likely to be popular & getting in early.
But I was not expecting the heat wave from Hell to hit town on Day 3 instead of half way through the festival like it usually does.
So there I was with shows lined up for Wednesday & Thursday just gone which were both best 40 Celsius & disgustingly humid.
Both venues had air conditioning but getting to them was like running the gauntlet.
If I hadn't already booked & paid, I would have stayed at home.
It turns out that's exactly what a lot of people did.
In my 12 years of Fringe bingeing, I have never been to shows after 7pm on Wednesdays or Thursdays with only 30 people in the audience.
I had a 3 seat cocktail table all to myself for 3 of the 4 shows.
What was so sad, the performers work their butts off to put on shows & it's always hotter on stage than on the floor.
On Friday night I got Rush Tix for a show in an outdoor venue.
The show got delayed because it rained.
I could get not imagine what it would have been like the previous nights when the humidity was high & it never got below 28 Celsius during the night
It also meant that the festival gardens are not as enticing as usual for lurking & lingering unless you are in one of the gorgeous air-conditioned Spiegeltents.
The last time there was such a nasty heatwave here was the Christmas of 2021. A whole week of max 40+ days and min 30 nights.
Next week we have another string of 38-40 degree days.
I was only thinking 2 weeks ago about this being the mildest summer since I came to Oz in 1993.
The Gods laugh when serpents praise the weather.
The time of year when flying your Freak flag is almost obligatory.
As usual, I plan for this annual event as if I were invading Poland.
First task is to fill the treasure chest ready for raids in November.
That's when the official program is released and Fringe Friends get a few weeks to sneak peak and feast on juicy Freak Snacks.
Since anticipation is just as much fun as the shows, it adds an extra level of enjoyment.
But the biggest perks are the 30% discount on many shows along with skipping the queue.
So then it's a guessing game of picking shows that are most likely to be popular & getting in early.
But I was not expecting the heat wave from Hell to hit town on Day 3 instead of half way through the festival like it usually does.
So there I was with shows lined up for Wednesday & Thursday just gone which were both best 40 Celsius & disgustingly humid.
Both venues had air conditioning but getting to them was like running the gauntlet.
If I hadn't already booked & paid, I would have stayed at home.
It turns out that's exactly what a lot of people did.
In my 12 years of Fringe bingeing, I have never been to shows after 7pm on Wednesdays or Thursdays with only 30 people in the audience.
I had a 3 seat cocktail table all to myself for 3 of the 4 shows.
What was so sad, the performers work their butts off to put on shows & it's always hotter on stage than on the floor.
On Friday night I got Rush Tix for a show in an outdoor venue.
The show got delayed because it rained.
I could get not imagine what it would have been like the previous nights when the humidity was high & it never got below 28 Celsius during the night
It also meant that the festival gardens are not as enticing as usual for lurking & lingering unless you are in one of the gorgeous air-conditioned Spiegeltents.
The last time there was such a nasty heatwave here was the Christmas of 2021. A whole week of max 40+ days and min 30 nights.
Next week we have another string of 38-40 degree days.
I was only thinking 2 weeks ago about this being the mildest summer since I came to Oz in 1993.
The Gods laugh when serpents praise the weather.
