monthly mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: the river festival
when: the month of august
where: anywhere around the city
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

river festival

In the days leading up to August 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The River Festival. This holiday is in celebration of the river and the life that it gives to the city, as well as the heat of summer and forming bonds with friends, family, and romantic partners. The celebrations are marked by a community-wide cleanup of the docks and beaches along the river - particularly important considering the recent flooding that's left the banks of the river littered with debris - as well as beachfront cookouts and parties (both private and city sponsored) and beach sports tournaments happening on either open stretches of beach or in special clothing-optional beaches, all capped off with fireworks displays each weekend in August.

a celebration of the river and togetherness

Following the hedonism of Carnivale, it's time for something a little more low-key and relaxing. The River Festival happens every year in August, and is geared toward community building through cleaning up the beaches and docks along the river and then using all that freshly cleaned beach to gather on. During the month of August, there are various lightly-themed government-sponsored beach cookouts and parties geared toward family, romantic dates, or casual all-ages get-togethers for meeting new friends; there are also a few more racy parties at clothing-optional beaches around the city. Many private residents also take this time to gather together friends and family, and have cookouts on the beach with all the typical trappings of the beach barbecue. There are also various casual sports tournaments sponsored by community centers, gyms, and sports teams in the city, featuring prizes ranging from notoriety to sports equipment to big bucks. Every weekend, there are beautiful fireworks displays and free concerts. This year, the River Festival has been chosen for the unveiling of a new water park in the City, with free or heavily discounted tickets during August!

i. cleaning up

The holiday starts off on a note that is just a bit more sombre than the rest of the season, with the cleanup efforts following the recent flooding blending into the usual tradition of cleaning up beaches and docks along the river. The cleanup is a group effort, with every citizen who is physically able pitching in to comb the beaches, where they pick up fallen tree limbs, garbage, and anything else that's accumulated during the winter and spring, and then raking the beaches to make them clean and ready to use. The cleanup of the docks is similar, with residents sweeping and hosing them down where necessary. This year, there are a lot of repairs to be made to beachfront structures that might've been damaged by flooding and the traffic along the riverbanks from the heroes that participated in the rescue of cult hostages, so if anyone has some carpentry or building skills, those would definitely come in handy.

This is meant to be a community building effort, so many businesses in the area, more well-to-do private citizens, and the government have pitched in funding to provide lunches, cold drinks, coffee or tea, and snacks to anyone who's helping out with the cleanup efforts. All in all, the cleanup has a very friendly, welcoming vibe.

ii. beach activities

The main traditions of the River Festival involve cookouts and beach parties. Each weekend in August, the government as well as various corporations and businesses in the city, will be providing funds for large beach gatherings. On these days, there will be booths set up offering wares and freebies from various businesses around the city that have helped fund the party, large swaths of cleared beach where residents can don a swimsuit and catch some rays or swim in the river, massive barbecue setups to provide partygoers with all the standard barbecue fare, beach sports tournaments, dancing and musical performances, and fireworks displays (see prompts below).

The holiday isn't just about these big parties, though - many residents arrange their own barbecues, cookouts, beach camping trips, beach bonfires, and other riverside gatherings and outings. Many riverfront businesses offer discounts on services such as canoe or kayak rentals to go out paddling on the river, jetski or motorboat rentals for tubing, wakeboarding, or waterskiing, or mounts to take romantic rides in the surf. Additionally, there is an adults-only section of the beach where any of these activities can be done in the nude in a clothing-optional setting, including the big city-sponsored parties.

If your character is good at playing a particular sport that could, conceivably, be played on a beach, chances are that during the month of August, a tournament will be set up for them to participate in. The tournaments are pretty standard, generally sponsored by community centers, sports clubs and teams, gyms, and other organizations and businesses in the city, with various levels of specialization, and levels of skill or competitiveness. The prizes also vary, with everything from plain old bragging rights to sports equipment or passes to gyms and community centers, to large lump sums of cash money. Definitely worth it, for characters with a love for sport. Oh, and a lot of these tournaments are happening on the adults-only clothing-optional beaches, for those grown-up sports fans who like a bit of an extra challenge.

iii. fireworks and music

Each weekend throughout the month of August, there will be evening performances all along the beach. Not as extensive as the musical performances during Carnivale, the performances are geared more toward dancing than true concerts, with areas roped off on both on the regular and adults-only clothing-optional beaches for dancing and mingling (acts will switch off between the two areas so both areas get both performances).

Player-characters who are musical artists, DJs, or otherwise perform are free to set up shop around this party and panhandle or put on free performances for publicity.

After the sun goes down, boats will head out into the water carrying a variety of fireworks, and there will be a beautiful display of exploding color in the sky for residents to watch and enjoy. The fireworks are highly advanced, incorporating old-fashioned gunpowder as well as modern technology that result in really beautiful displays that can take the breath away!

iv. waterpark

This year, there's an extra little bit of fun being thrown into the River Festival - the grand opening of a new waterpark! It's quite the park, set near the river with a scenic view, and featuring all sorts of amazing rides, from waterslides that are catered to all ages and levels of thrill seeking, tube rides that are almost like a rollercoaster on water, a pool where customers can faux-surf, funnel rides, side-by-side racing slides, a lazy river, and almost anything else you can imagine. Besides the rides, there are also a wide variety of swimming pools for kids and adults - wave pools, lap pools, splash pools - and an equally wide variety of hot tubs featuring various minerals (and some aromatherapy) for relaxing, invigoration, and other effects.

Some of the hot tubs are in a clothing-optional adult area, where there are some normal pools and some clearly-labelled pools contain elements that increase arousal or desire, or simply affection to encourage some closer bonding!

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up one of the mod-posted prompts for each Communal Floor. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the River Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: credit unknown; image ii: Albert Ramon Puig; image iii: Claudio Pilia; image iv: Alan Philips

navigation

Comments

[compartmentalise]

[He matches the other android's smile. These emotions are still new to him but he likes the way they feel]

I think "an odd mix" is a good way to describe anyone.

[sentiences]

I take a certain pride in being eclectic.

And you should too. You're not alone but you are yourself.

[compartmentalise]

I feel like I'm fully myself for the first time.

[sentiences]

[ Hmm. ]

But do you know who you are?

[compartmentalise]

[He nods]

I am Markus. I'm a painter like my father. I like reading and so far my favorite movie is Alien. I'm still exploring that and music, though.

And I wish I could go back to Detroit with all I've learned here so I could help other androids be free, too.

[sentiences]

From their . . . programming?

[compartmentalise]

Well, yes. They should be allowed to make their own choices.

[sentiences]

[ This . . . seems like a gray area, even to Dorian. ]

All beings should. But I don't think the society that is built in Detroit would take too kindly to that. They won't see it as freedom. They'll see it as malfunctioning hardware.

[compartmentalise]

[Dorian would be right about that. Markus knows it's true, and yet....]

Maybe there's a way to show them we're alive. The humans here see us that way.

[sentiences]

I was made to feel alive. There might be limits to myself that even I'm not aware of.

[ He may not have orders or need supervision, but Dorian knows he's limited. Doesn't he? He's not human. He never will be. He's just the closest approximation. His voice and logic sounds weak, even to himself. ]

I . . . can't fully say that I am.

[compartmentalise]

[Maybe that's the difference between their android types: Markus and his kind weren't meant to feel alive]

What would it mean for you to know you're alive?

[sentiences]

I don't know. I've been so focused on just . . . being here that I haven't given it much thought.

[compartmentalise]

Give it some thought. [He turns to gaze out over the beach] It's a good day for that.

[sentiences]

I think I'll need more time than that.

[ Unbidden, Dorian really misses John. He missed John's ability to simply hand over an answer. To simply know what to say. It's an ability Dorian's always envied about the man. ]

[compartmentalise]

That's what's good about this place: you have the time.

[sentiences]

I do.

. . . But I miss my partner. He made finding answers . . . easier.

[compartmentalise]

I know what you mean.

[sentiences]

[ His lips curve. ]

I'm not surprised you do.

[compartmentalise]

[Again, he matches the smile]

You know, if you wanted to try going back in the water again, I'm sure there are plugs you can put in your ears to protect them.

[sentiences]

[ He hums, resting his chin on his hands. ]

Why not? To live is to take risks.

[compartmentalise]

[He nods encouragingly]

I'll stay on the beach for a while. Just in case other people need help draining their ears.

[sentiences]

I don't think it's all that dangerous to living creatures.

[compartmentalise]

I was making a joke, Dorian. But I think I would still help if they needed it.

[sentiences]

Of course you would.

[compartmentalise]

[He smiles a bit warmer, turning his attention back to those enjoying the beach]

Even if I was treated the same here as in Detroit, I think I would still try to reach out a hand in friendship. Show them that we can get along and work together. I painted something like that back home, thinking of hope.