Welcome to Urbanscapes!
Padang Astaka was the venue. With my free Weekend Pass (that i won from Levis twitter contest) in hand, RM and i headed there by train on Saturday. I went again on Sunday too, with my sister Nana. Here are my favorite parts of the urban art festival :
The Drum Circle
As we walked through the entrance and then passed by the fashion bazaar, the sound of drums and percussion greeted us. The Drum Circle were calling for audience participation. So i grabbed an instrument and joined them. It was fun being a part of their performance. I even got to play kompang, and the atmosphere was so energetic.
The Next Stage
I’ve to admit that i have never heard of most of the performers on this stage but this band had a song called Parti Sampai Pagi which was very entertaining and cheeky.
The Green Stage
The windmill on top of the stage represented green energy im guessing. Hence the name of this stage which was simply set. Most of the bands on this stage were electronic bands.
Giant Bubbles in the Air
There was this one guy carrying two rods with ropes attached in between. He then dipped the ropes into a bucket filled with dishwashing liquid and then held up the ropes in the air. Result: giant bubbles blowing everywhere, and spreading smiles and laughters among the crowd when they tried to catch a bubble floating in the air.
The 3D Urbanscapes Logo
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the festival and they went big with the logo. It was white and 3D and even more impressive under the white clouds and blue sky.
Day:
Night:
Bands on a Bus
Bittersweet and Darren Ashley performed on this stage. They even had dancers doing the Gangnam Style.
That’s Miss Nina by the way, the one with the purple sleeveless shirt. She was there with her husband Noh from Hujan. Other famous faces mingling in the festival crowd include Redza Minhat and Bront Palare.
The Art Installations
The light bulbs on the giant balloon puppy shaped installation attracted my attention from afar. But the best art piece in my opinion was the chalkboard cube. Festival goers were able to write what love meant to them on the cube. To me, love is a shared loneliness. To me, love is the reason we wake up in the morning. 🙂
(Free!) Beetle Photo Booth
We were suprised to find out that this photo booth was free because nobody was in queue. The instant photos were printed on postcards and we get to take them home as momentos.
Myriad of Little White Tents
White tents meant shopping! Online boutiques owners sell their merchandise under the tents near the entrance. Then they also had artpieces and home deco things on sale. The yellow school bus sold festival food like hot dogs and iced cold drinks. Levi’s was giving away plain shopping bags in their tent. We then get the chance stamp the bags with slogans like “Smell Like Jean Spirit” and “Jeanius” on the white bags.
The Mud, Sticky Wet Smelly Mud
An outdoor festival is incomplete without a little mud. The rain the day before left puddles everywhere and they had wooden crates which acted as bridges between the stages. There were people wearing Wellington and bright yellow Phua Chu Kang boots!
Saved the Best for Last
Yuna Live on the Volkswagen Stage
The talented, globe-trotting Yuna performed on Saturday night and it was magical. She started with Gadis Semasa, but i nearly cried when she performed Cinta Sempurna. Haha okay i was exaggerating :p Decorate was amazing live too. Overall, she sounds better live than on her CDs.
So that was Urbanscapes! Just a weekend to be among the creative and talented, hoping to get inspired. The colours around me were so addictive and uplifting! 😀
