riverviewmod: (Default)
Riverview Moderator ([personal profile] riverviewmod) wrote in [community profile] riverviewlogs2018-08-01 10:33 pm

monthly mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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
seeingscarlet: (concern; 206)

[personal profile] seeingscarlet 2018-08-08 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
You're welcome. You shouldn't have to try so hard because someone couldn't throw away their trash.

[Seriously, the things she's found out here...it's completely ridiculous. What kind of monster goes out of their way to dump their tires on the beach? This may have only been a chip bag, but still, there are trash cans dotted along the river frequently enough that there's no excuse.]

You've been drinking enough water, yes?
democratically: (ceased)

[personal profile] democratically 2018-08-10 04:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Overall, this place has been surprisingly clean from what I have seen since I arrived.

[Considering all the events that go on. It is a pity though that after everything, there is a mess left. Thankfully there do appear to be enough people around to help out. And, while being here isn't by choice for her, Padmé can't say that she has any desire to just ignore events that go on here. She lives here for now.

Her question expressing concern brings a soft smile to her. She has always been busy, although her senator work has been more mentally straining than physically staining, at least most of the time.]


I had some a while ago. I probably should go and get some more in a bit. You rather forget how much time can pass when you're distracted with a project.
seeingscarlet: (witch; 104)

[personal profile] seeingscarlet 2018-08-13 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[They have that in common, at least. This isn't her beloved Sokovia but Wanda's never been one to stand idly by when someone needs help, especially now. She has to carry on for the sake of her brother and everyone who died in the experiments, for everyone who died in the Battle of Sokovia. She owes them all that much.

Sometimes that means turning her power to eradicating the villain of the day: trash.]


There's so much beach it feels like we'll never be done. I don't think I realized how much until now. [She gestures, picking up one of the misplaced boulders with her magic and sending it back to the river where it belongs.] The festival might be as big as Carnivale.
democratically: (patience)

[personal profile] democratically 2018-08-14 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[With people who can do things like she can, Padmé doesn't think it is going to take as long as it might otherwise take. She is fit and keeps herself the same here, but even Padmé can't lift up things that are too heavy. It is why her lips do quiver ever so at the other's statement.]

I think we've made quite a bit of progress.

[Watching the boulder drop with a plop, waves rippling in its wake.]

They don't seem to do things on a small scale here though. At least not since I have arrived.
seeingscarlet: (concern; 040)

[personal profile] seeingscarlet 2018-08-15 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
No. There hasn't been a quiet month since I came here either.

[The many festivals have been nice, but the dangers have also been bad. So many people had been kidnapped and hurt by the cultists, and the traps in the temple had been no joke.]

Have you been here long?
democratically: (tatooine white)

[personal profile] democratically 2018-08-17 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Not that long, no.

[Longer than she might have expected, but seeing how some people have been here for quite some time, Padmé can't complain too much. It's not years or decades. It is a matter of months.]

I arrived just before Prijata.
seeingscarlet: (girl; 116)

[personal profile] seeingscarlet 2018-08-21 02:27 pm (UTC)(link)
The month before was a little quieter? But it seems like every month there is a new celebration.

[So unlike what she's used to, but the people here generally seem much happier. There's no potential doom looming over them as long as the perimeter holds.]

It's...different.
democratically: (reflects)

[personal profile] democratically 2018-08-23 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
It is. This place... it isn't what I expected when I first arrived.

[There had been so many different images flashing through her mind. She isn't without her enemies, and yet the people here had been friendly and helpful. It did say a lot. She has seen races at their finest, and at their worse, although she would never lump all together as one (she does debate with the Hutts though).]
seeingscarlet: (concern; 040)

[personal profile] seeingscarlet 2018-08-27 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
We've been pulled to another universe because of our feelings. Nothing here is normal.

[All of the parties and festivals were definitely not what Wanda was picturing. She never would have expected Gramarye or the friends she's made there, either. 'Quarantine' sounds scary but it's surprisingly...not.

Still, Wanda can't help but feel guilty for starting to settle into a routine. There's nothing to fight or push for here (generally), and Wanda's so unused to true peace that it feels almost too quiet sometimes. Like she has to be missing something.]
democratically: (tatooine white)

[personal profile] democratically 2018-08-30 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
And yet things aren't completely abnormal.

[Different terms, different ways of life, different levels of technology, yet not completely foreign. Different routes and paths, as well, given that the drama from where they are from doesn't follow them here. Or at least it likely doesn't. There is no hint of the war that she is hoping to avoid in their galaxy.]

For that I can be thankful.