Well done HP Rodeo ! You made me proud to be a crazy Calgaryian last night at the SNOWBLOWER 2011 outdoor dance party!
It felt like one of those " If you build it they will come " moments out of Field of Dreams.
The stage was set. The burn barrels were burning the tea was brewing the dancefloor boards ready and waiting to be danced upon.
but IT WAS COLD !
-23 c COLD! Cold enough to make you face actually hurt and then go numb in about 5 minutes.
I’m from BC I aint used to that kinda cold!
Taking photos was painful and shortlived cuz my camera would freeze and read "memory card error" right when I had the best shot!(
The thawing out of the hands afterwards was more painful than a third degree burn I imagine..
I almost didn’t even go figuring NO ONE would be outside willingly in THIS weather! Surely not!
You’d be crazy!
Well colour me crazy cuz I went and was NOT alone!
The stage was set and we came! in the thousands!
In -23 c we came.
In our down parkas our Uggs and our leg warmers our fuzzy hats and hula hoops!
We came… and to stay survive …we danced!
It was no "So you think you can dance Calgary 2011" mind you. We mainly jumped up and down in one big mass but it felt good. Quite primitve and tribal really)
and Ladies it beats the hell out of Curves on the fun factor.
Hello glitter and leg warmers!)
The fact that the tribal beat was being provided by World-Class DJs seemed almost secondary but wonderful none the less. They even had Snowblower gogo dancers on stage in their winter white legwarmers and parkas.
The sound was actually cut off just as RJD2 took the stage and we were left beatless but the dancing never paused for a second.
People were climbing out of the mosh pit steaming away with evaporating sweat huge smiles on their faces and others quickly moved in to take their place. People’s faces glowed pink with big rosy cheeks and looked genuinely happy.
Joyful really.
Like we were at a big family reunion or one of those old fashioned "village days" you read about in J R R Tolkein.
Heck the Mayor even showed up and was welcomed on stage like a rock star!
I found the cold ironically "broke the ice" for everyone and found people comfortably chatting around burn barrels over tea at the Kindred TeaHouse and hot cocoa in Epcor center.
I froze my patooti off with over 4000 crazy Calgaryians and loved it!
Check out pics in the FFWD slideshow!)
http://www.ffwdweekly.com/slideshow/