Sunday noon, rush hour on Długi Targ, the “Long Market”:
Since the middle ages this place is the centre of the “Right Town”, the right (not left) part of the Old Town of Gdansk, and since a few decades it’s also the spot where the streams of tourists run together: everything is accumulating in front of the Neptune Fountain – at the foot of the scary robot virgin (staring down at us with her unmoving eyes) – and the kitsch- and souvenir dealers.
This is the Moving Baltic Sea venue in Gdansk.
The gross of the so-called adult people seems to be blocked from approaching closer than five meters to our festival tents, manipulated by a mysterious field of force. Instead, the workshops attract the kids like light attracts moths!
Besides the hand-papermaking- and the Baltic-seawater-microscoping-workshops (which take place since Friday) we are glad to present today in addition a comic-strip-drawing- and a circus- and juggling- workshop. The kids love it!
What is catching my eyes again today is that Polish children are much less shy than the German ones of the same age – a five year old fellow enters the information tent and pesters me with questions (which I can unfortunately not answer), totally uninhibited! And smiling when he sees my helpless question mark face! Polish kids seem to be more open-minded and brave.
In the course of the afternoon the sky is clouding more and more, and eventually the first drops are wetting our scalps.
A primary school class wrapped in red plastic uniforms and the teacher are waiting patiently for the Bolek & Lolek screening … never mind the drizzling!
Sadly we have to postpone it – it’s still too bright outside!
A few moments later the schoolboys dive into the magic world of the psychedelic street theatre “Lustra Strona Druga” (“the other side of the mirror” or “trough the looking glass”. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen their show).
And one hour later it is dark enough at last and we can screen the “Bolek i Lolek” films. Attendant: many couples, nuzzling under their umbrellas and freshening their childhood memories. Namely, Bolek i Lolek exist since 1964, and as I read just now, the descendants of creator Alfred Ledwig, the animation studios in Bielsko-Biała and the Polish government (which regards B&L as national treasure) are quarrelling over the licenses!
The front rows are filled by the Lovis gang and the MBS crew.
The next event is the anti-consumption and anti-pollution “Barbie and Can” performance of the Zunda theatre group from Marburg, Germany – a crazy spectacle between techno-vaudeville and end-of-time Muppet show. Never seen a similar show on the old and venerable Long Market before! The reactions: from dropping jaws to enthusiastic rejoicing!
In the meantime it is raining cats and dogs and we decide to interrupt the screening of the “colours of green” films and start with the removal of projector and screen.
The rainy but nonetheless successful and sparkling day comes to an end.
Sipping the last beer onboard while the heavenly fountains pound on the skylights – that’s a perfect knock-off! Dobranoc!