riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and River Festival
when: The month of August; the bulk of celebration will be in week 1, but there is a party and fireworks display on August 14th.
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 acid rain - 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 on the evenings of August 7th and 14th.

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 first week 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. Finally, there are two fireworks displays, one on August 7th and one on August 14th, with free food, and various live performers beforehand.

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 late July's strange fog and acid rain 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 the acid rain, 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. cookouts and parties

The main traditions of the River Festival involve cookouts and beach parties. On August 7th and August 14th, 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.

iii. sportsball tournaments

Is your character 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.

iv. performances and fireworks

On August 7th and August 14th at the end of the large city-sponsored beach parties, there will be evening performances all along the beach. Not as extensive as the musical performances during Carnivale, there are two large-name performers per night, with various lesser-known groups performing at random off and on throughout the day and night. Areas of the beach are cleared for residents to watch and dance to the music, both on the regular and adults-only clothing-optional beaches (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!

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He could relate. His own kitchen back home had been but a fraction of the size of this one. It had been intended for one person alone, but he would still cover the entire thing from end to end if business was slow and the notion took him.]

[Even with his poor eyesight, he can see that look she's giving him and it gets a smile. He's used to seeing that on people.] No, thank you. Seems you don't care for it much now yourself. I think I'll pass.

Huh?

*She was trying to track where he thought she wasn't hungry. She mused for a moment eating a nacho.*

No, just because you're really creepy looking doesn't mean I can't eat. If I couldn't eat just because something here was weird I'd have starved months ago.

[Well, that's rude, but true. Good for her, he really likes it that way.] Good to see you haven't lost your appetite after all. [He moves to a cabinet where he's been keeping his own supplies and pulls out a jar, woefully not the urn he had back home, and removes the lid to pull out a... It's not bone shaped as he would like, but he hasn't been able to find a cookie cutter that makes the shape he likes.]

So what is this you're making?

I went to all this work, shame not to eat.

*She watches him, how does someone make grabbing a cookie creepy? How is that a thing? That's not suppose to be a thing! Cookies are inherently pure and good! Still, she hides it by being excited about her cooking, which is easy for her.*

Nachos. I got a little creative with the toppings. Couldn't find all the same chiles I wanted. But they still work.

[Easily. Very easily. For him.] Nachos? Never heard of it. Looks like crackers and garnish at a fancy party to me. [He grins, pulling a cookie from his jar, then puts the jar back.] Is that what this is, then? Something for a party?

Corn chips, with peppers and spices, held together with cheese. It's definitely for parties, not sure anyone I'm from would say 'fancy' though.

*She saw where he was going with the description at least, it's close but the refinement on finger foods was a lot more about presentation and single serving bites than... nachos. Which were nachos.*

Usually it's an appetizer for everyone to share before their entrees show up. At least that's how it usually gets ordered.

Hm. That's interesting, indeed. What would they call it then, if not fancy? Where I'm from, there's either fancy or there's not, depending on your finances. Not much room in the middle.

That's pretty much how it works where I'm from too. And this definitely isn't fancy. But it tastes good, and that's what matters.

[Well now you're just tempting him, even though he's still not sure about it.] I might try my hand at it one day, but I make no promises. Do you have a recipe to follow for it or is it all just your wants and whims for the time being?

I had a recipe, but not all the ingredients exist here.

So mostly I just try to keep the ratio of cheese, chips, and topping the same. And hope they come out good when I'm done. A couple times I've managed to get it wrong, cause the ingredients have totally impossible flavors for their texture, but it still totally worked.

Just, really weird worked.

Ah, but that's half the fun of it. Food experimentation has always been a favored pastime of mine, but I stick mostly to the sweet side of things. [Not that one might guess that from a look at his skinny ass. He once heard someone say never trust a thin cook.] Cakes and small pastries and the sort.

I've managed to make sweet nachos before. Because the cheese tasted more like ice cream and the toppings were all a little sweeter cooked than they were raw.

I bake a little too, usually cookies or muffins. Someone has me helping them bake pies too.

[That gets a look from him, or as much of one as can be given with half his face concealed behind a wall of hair. Sweet nachos with cheese that tastes like ice cream. Not sure how I feel about that, but I'm willing to try it if ever you decide you want to make it again, for the masses, of course. I'd thought about making something for the apartment while I have the supplies myself. You're welcome to what I bake, if you'd like. [Not that he'd expect she'll want to take him up on that offer, given the looks she was giving him earlier.] Just not what I keep in the jar. Private stash, you see.

The cheese is the hard thing to find... but if I find it again I'll definitely make them again.

And I'll take you up on that, I'm always curious what others can make in the kitchen.

[He pointed a finger to one of the bowls set on the table, the one with what looked like liquid cheese in it.] Is that the cheese there? Looks almost like it shouldn't be cheese at all in that manner. I won't be up to anything in here any time soon, but might be for the best.

introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject