River Festival

Today I will be posting my 182nd blip journal. That means I am half way towards completing my goal of twelve months of continuous photo taking.

I would like to thank Blipfoto by helping my aim by supplying a platform for publishing my photos. I also update to a Picasa album on a daily basis with the same photos for those who only want to see the pictures (though I think these may not make much sense in some cases without the associated journal).

Stratford was today holding its annual River Festival; an ideal blip opportunity. The town hosted many groups of Morris Dancers from different areas. I'm not sure if they were in competition with each other, but they certainly threw themselves into it.

I must admit the music and dancing are not to my taste, but I can admire the work that goes into their costumes (and make-up, in some cases, where faces are blacked. A guise dating back to the 15th century to ensure disguise from their employers when they went out dancing and begging - source Wikipedia, where else?).

Down by the river the crowds were enjoying live music, numerous stalls, including a variety of international eateries, and a river packed with a hundred or so small boats and canal narrow boats; all decked out as colourful as possible with decoration and flags.

Tonight there is to be a finale of a sail-past of illuminated boats plus fireworks. I'm hoping to get down there later and try out my night photography skills (or lack of them). So a late posting this evening.

Later: I finally decided on this photo, which ironically I took with my mobile phone just to test out night shooting with it. It shows fireworks exploding over a row of moored boats on the other side of the river whilst a spectator looks on. Technically its not a very good picture at all, but I guess it sums up the feeling of the day and the finale tonight.