Trop Fest 2006

The festival is called Trop Fest 2006. It is the world's largest short film event and the screening occurs in Sydney, Australia.

After reviewing over 700 short films, the judges narrow it down to 16 finalists and show them on a big screen in the middle of the domain park(situated in our backyard). Every year, crowds of up to 80,000 people show up for yet another "free" event (I still haven't figured out where all this money comes from to pay for such events)

This year was a bit more unique as the weather didn't seem to want to cooperate with the event. As the sun set (though it was covered in clouds), the rain decided to bare itself upon us. It began as a light sprinkle and tapered off before really releasing its full force in an all out tropical storm! It took about another 10 minutes, but the show was finally postponed due to the fear that the equipment could be damaged by lighting.

As I was already soaking wet, I thought I'd sit and watch the stampede leave the grounds as it seemed like absolute chaos everywhere! Some decided to take advantage of this rare occurance and started playing in the rain. The weirdest thing I saw was seeing a person stripped down to nothing walking around as if it was the normal thing to do. To end off the night, we decided it would be fitting to head to the bar to escape the rain and watch the madness from indoors.

- the lone asian