This past Monday was Labour Day, which meant a nice long weekend for many in Melbourne. Labour Day is similar to Labor Day back in the States, but in Australia the actual date varies by state/territory. In Victoria (and Tasmania), it's the second Monday in March, while other states celebrate the holiday on the first Monday of March, May, or October - so many days of labour! Ben was happy to have a nice three-day weekend, after working out of town all week.
Labour Day weekend also coincides with the annual Moomba Festival, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. Moomba is a fun community event that takes place along the Yarra river, with carnival rides, food booths and performance stages set up along the surrounding areas. There is a parade on Monday morning, a wide variety of water sports showcased on the river, and a fireworks display every evening.
We decided to check out some of the festivities on Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful hot summer day in Melbourne, perfect for exploring the grounds and watching the spectacular Birdman Rally. Primarily a fundraising event, the Melbourne Birdman Rally consists of people attempting to fly across the river in homemade gliders, competing for distance (a combination of physical distance "flown," and fundraising efforts). Each contestant was interviewed beforehand about their costume, charity of choice, and flight expectations. We saw a lot of fun contraptions - someone dressed as a giant drop of water, a glider covered in balloons, a giant insect costume, and an oversized paper-mache dog bone. Very fun and creative, even if all the contestants pretty much just plummeted into the river. Fortunately, there were rescue crafts nearby to immediately assist the drenched participants, who returned to the stage for a post-plunge interview and slow-motion assessment of their "flight." We didn't stay until the end of the competition, but thoroughly enjoyed what we saw.
gliding into the river. |
Later, we were able to watch some of the competitive wake boarders, who zig-zagged around the Yarra performing awesome tricks and manoeuvres. One of the competitors was a 10-year old girl from Malaysia - amazing!
We wandered around the grounds a bit, getting some snacks and watching the fun-looking rides.
We weren't feeling up to watching the Moomba parade in person on Monday, but fortunately a local channel was broadcasting it live on TV. There were many elaborate floats, dancers, and even the giant Millennium Dragon we saw displayed at the Chinese Museum. My favourite float was designed by a 5-year old girl, who won a design-your-own float competition with "Daisy the Cow." Adorable!
Festivals in Melbourne are really quite something, and it's so fun to live in a place where everyone comes out to enjoy what the city has to offer!
CK
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