mysterious bells

So Friday I decided to walk home from work with a smoke by my side. I can walk along the Yarra river into the CBD from my office. About half an hour walk, beautiful views, and had some darn funky music playing too. As I came near to town I noticed a lot of people moseying and remember it was the start of the arts festival. So following the crowd like any good sheep I was whisked to Alexandra Gardens, a place of many a smoke and hackey sacked day, where a crane stood high and platforms circled. Many sat and awaited and I awaited the show, with very little idea what was happening.Two old French clowns wandered through the seated audience, babbling in nonsensical French (I found out later that they were basically saying things like ‘Carwash Carwash, I go job said Frank, are you French, have you cheese?’). Wearing typical clichéd French clothing and drinking from red wine bottles. The fawning crowd giggled and gabbed at them and warmed to their wonderful charms. Soon they found their way to the stage where the eldest slowly and dramatically climbed a robe ladder on the crane, leading to a bell. He struck with much gusto, and the show beganAcrobats in tight attire ran through the crowd cawing and singing with flames held aloft, they reached the centre stage and began to alight the performance stages that circled it. Once the flames were lit, they showed the stages to be Bells, an obvious theme for the evening. The centre bell was rung aloud again and caterwauling and hollering from the far off tents could be heard. Eight fantastically dressed performers weaved out through the crowd, each with various bells, cheering and rallying the crowd into applauds and generally whooping. Their costumes were medieval and theatrical. Something tragic, yet whimsical. The used the bells to answer the centre stage’s call, and slowly made their way to the stages.With another ring of the bells and a joyous laugh, they began their performance. There was a sense of classic comedy to it, mimery and buffoonery, they whisked up the crowd into clapping and cheering, signing and laughing. And upon and strike of the bell, they changed places, and began again. Slowly they started syncing the stamps and claps into a frenzy of tap dancing mayhem until the bell rung again, they turned excited and ran to the centre stage. The bell rang against and again as the acrobats climbed the structure into the air to an awed crowd. As the main bell stopped, the real music began.The clowns and performers had attached themselves to elaborate contraptions of bells and drums and began to play this beautiful haunting and magical music. And as the rhythm increased they were slowly raised into the air, like a surreal living mobile, and at 50 feet in the air they were twirled and spun into a mesmerizing cacophony. The crowd (and myself) sat and stood opened mouthed and astounded at the sight. The lights flashed and changed, shining bright white and subtle amber in time with the music. The performers were raised and lowered in a brilliant dance high above the adoring masses as the acrobats started their piece, twisting and twirling, stretching and swirling high above the ground and into the starlit sky.A truly amazing event. Broadly smiling I walked back into the city, where the bridge had been revamped and all the lights now had lamp shades hanging over them. I smiled. This truly is My City