Macnas Parade - Gone in 60 seconds (almost)

dilallio

Anyone else think that tonight's Macnas Parade was a bit on the short side.
They closed off all those streets, erected barriers, people were waiting in anticipation.
It came and went in 6 mins :eek:

The few floats and displays were excellent - very colourful, noisy, smokey, etc, but I couldn't believe how short it was, compared to previous years.

Sponge Bob

Pathetic , about a third the size of last year .

galwayrush

I couldn't make it, so i didn't miss too much then.

Interceptor

Its de cutbax becos uv de resishen an all. De muny is been spint on a deefibbrillatur fur de libarary inshted doncha kno.

'cptr

traceyde

Attended the Macnas parade tonight...was a great parade with lots of effort put into it, but was it unusually short or could i have missed a lot of it,=. It seemed to start with a dinasaur ending with fishes. am wondering was there more to come that i missed or were there only about 7 sections to it

inisboffin

It was different for sure. Some performers were planted on the way. So it got longer and shorter with people coming and going. I think it depended where you saw it for sure..I had loads of friends watching and in it too, and tbh, a variety of experiences; some thought it was a tad short, some thought it the best ever parade!

inisboffin

So seriously mixed reviews? (disclaimer, I was in it!). All my mates seem to think it depends where you saw it..the 'parade' was more like street theatre - it gathered performers as it went, so kinda depended where you saw it and if you followed it..different I know but different is good. I heard everything (from friends) from 'meh' to 'best ever'..Hard to be objective 'cause I participated..loads of fun though!


Highlights?

Anima

I thought it was good but it just kind of ended all of a sudden. Could of done with being a bit longer.

MayoForSam

First time to see it, definitely thought it could have been a bit more prolonged. The floats were excellent though. No fireworks either? A lot of people had been expecting them, pity as the weather had been very benign.

mika27

I watched it down at jury's and all we saw were five or six floats and that was it. Everyone was waiting for more but nothing else came and the crowd dispersed, very disappointing in comparison to other years.

Fozzie Bear

I was saying that to Mrs Fozzie Bear. Seemed really short compared to previous years. Only real highlight was the drunken buffoon in blue shirt and white jeans/chino's down at Eddie Rockets junction on Eglington street who was being a tool. He tried to be smart and grab a big dude in drag at the head of the parade by the arse. Big dude in drag put him on the ground and made him his b!tch. Sat on his face, pretended to roide him all the while the assembled press photographers were snapping away. Drunk fool later on got himself tangled up in a float by falling into it. Stopped the parade for several minutes as he was removed from the float.

ve

Yeah it was very short alright. I'm going to guess that it was a lack of funds. I said it before and I'll say it again, the entire Galway Arts Festival is not a patch on what it was say 10 - 15 years ago. The core difference being...take a walk around the city centre streets during the day and nothing suggests the Arts Festival is on. Very little is free and generally behind closed doors.

Having said that I applaud the effort put in to last night's parade and acknowledge the shortcommings bare no reflection upon those involved. If it could have been longer I'm sure it would have been.

*cough* Bring back Race Village & the Airshow! *cough*

N1one

It was short this year and a little bit of a disappointment, being at night there could have been more fireworks, flames and fire. I went to the finale at the Cathedral and that was very good, it made it worth while. I don't think everyone knew they were having an event there. (By the way- Cathedral car park makes a great location for an event or even a concert!).

JIZZLORD

i thought the parade was excellent though i was surprised how short it was. Them crusties put on a good show!

cowlove

1st year at the parade and I couldnt believe it ended that quickly! It was a real pity as the few floats that were there were very good!

topper75

I was happy with the quality, which was vaguely consistent with last year, but not at all with the quanity. I saw some people in civvies coming up the street after 15 mins and thought "They could have made a better effort". Then "Oh no! they are the crowd. That's it? Woah!".

I noted a lot of traffic coming up Francis St. and Eglinton St. after the due start time of the parade at 10pm. What the hell were these people thinking? Do they live with their heads up their ass? Even tourists knew it was on. These cars shouldn't have been let through at all.

Xiney

At least I didn't miss much, then.

well last year everyone followed to blackbox and there was a massive fireworks display which lasted longer itself than this years parade.. disappointing but it's not like we paid for it so can't complain really.

Sparkles

I couldn't believe how short the parade was last night...I timed 9 mins of action in total before the Order of Malta van coming down the street confirmed it really was over. After waiting 40 mins down near Jury's for it to start, 9 mins of parade was simply not enough. And what is the deal with different floats joining the parade at locations along the route? Who the hell came up with that with that gem of wisdom?!! Oh there was a big giant horse in there too? Really? Cos he didnt make an appearance at the Spanish Arch!! Now, it wasn't so bad for me to go and take a look at the whole lot at the cathedral carpark for the finale but not everyone would be able to snake their way across town to see it. Really it was a bit of a damp squib of a finale at that.....no fireworks, just a couple of flares and glitter. Where was the drama we've come to know and love with Macnas? Maybe it joined the parade at another location briefly and left again before I caught a glimpse of it? Anyone agree??!

Zzippy

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

I was saying that to Mrs Fozzie Bear. Seemed really short compared to previous years. Only real highlight was the drunken buffoon in blue shirt and white jeans/chino's down at Eddie Rockets junction on Eglington street who was being a tool. He tried to be smart and grab a big dude in drag at the head of the parade by the arse. Big dude in drag put him on the ground and made him his b!tch. Sat on his face, pretended to roide him all the while the assembled press photographers were snapping away. Drunk fool later on got himself tangled up in a float by falling into it. Stopped the parade for several minutes as he was removed from the float.

Saw that, best laugh of the night. Hopefully the photos make it into the papers this week!
Thought the parade was woefully short this year, even in previous years they seemed to have a lot more performers in between the floats which were spaced out a bit more, they all seemed to come together this year and it was over in no time. Very disappointing...

Sniipe

anyone make any vids of this short parade, and the drunk?

Skipper1

I thought it was amazing. Best ever .... But yeah it was super short but only because some of the core staff were let go this year. Sure tis better to be left wanting more, right? :P

Zzippy

Didn't get the drunk, but this is the guy/girl he was trying it on with... :pac:

Fozzie Bear

Yup thats... er him/her/it in all his/her/its glory! What a stunna!

cranky bollix

just came across this,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6DL6kr8Fnk

inisboffin

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Yup thats... er him/her/it in all his/her/its glory! What a stunna!

That'd be 'Lezza Minelli' - lovely, but suffers from terrible flatulence:p

trasver

Yeah a massive disappointment for us tbh!

Arrived at the cathedral nice and early to get good spot on the wall with the kids and after waiting an hour and a half they came past with nobody playing music on the floats and drummers etc just strolling along. Before we realised it the "concert" had begun and we were hemmed into an area where they'd parked all the floats and no one could see anything particularly the kids.

Just seemed badly organised/planned. Straightforward parades are great as everyone sees most of what's happening and I think people had planned for this by spreading out along the route so while lasts nights may have been more "artistic" in what they were trying to achieve it didn't really work.

A real let down, lets hope Macnas realise the problems and improve it for next year as it used to be a real highlight of the summer for us.

snubbleste

trasver wrote: »

.. A real let down, lets hope Macnas realise the problems and improve it for next year as it used to be a real highlight of the summer for us.

They know the problem - money.

gary82

Must say I was highly disappointed in the parade. Saying that, congrats to Macnas for the work they did, some of the floats looked really well but you could see they were really trying to make the most out of a seriously cut budget.

I think splitting the parade into a story was just a way of "expanding" the event without spending any extra money!

Was hoping for a big explosion of fireworks at the end which would have saved the day for me... by alas there was just a few sparks sprayed over by the Cathedral and a flare let off.

Anyway here's a handful of shots from the day;

trasver

snubbleste wrote: »

They know the problem - money.

Absolutely I agree! however the problem I meant was not doing the parade in a parade format and rather than doing it in a fragmented and confusing manner where different bits happened in different areas and there wasn't a cohesive parade as such imo

bodhrandude

Me and a mate were sitting on the steps of Jurys Hotel for about an hour waiting for the parade to kick off. First there was the kids with the paper mache dragon heads lit up like lanterns on sticks, followed by the swaying fish kids. Then came an impressive reptilian type creature also lit up like a lantern followed by a mad max type contraption on which at top sat a kit drummer, and two brass musicians. The middle one playing a lovely Eastern type melody before the vechicle drove out of sight. I was thinking well thats fairly good for the starter course, now for the painted paganites with their thunderous drums. After about four mins reality kicked in, aint nothing more passing our way. It was only reading this thread that I found it there were additions to the parade enroute, why was this not mentioned in the programme, that the parade would be added to enroute, the only info I got was it started at the Spanish Arch and ended at the Fisheries Field. Was disappointed with the briefness of it but still enjoyed it too. But Macnas was so much better back in the 90s, it has to be said.

gary82

bodhrandude wrote: »

.......why was this not mentioned in the programme.....

You're lucky you got a programme - they ran out of them a few days ago and won't be getting any more in!!!!

hamsterboy

Hi Guys
I've been an organizer/participant of the parade for the last 10 years or so. Even I was disappointed with the length and organisation of this years parade. It was trying to be waaaaayyyy too artsy, incorporating greek mythology etc.... this would have probably been possible with a larger parade but was impossible to achieve with the amount of manpower we had this year. Hopefully they realise this and return to the tried and tested noisy, bright, wild parades I remember being in a few years ago.
Then again.....money was an issue and will be from now on I guess

Cheers

HB

moonflower

It was way too short! We were at the Cathedral waiting for ages for it to get there and it was over in just a few minutes. I saw the crowd of people following it and thought they must be part of it and more was coming, but no. Also, I really don't think they thought the whole thing with the people with the big white cones on their heads through... When they were coming towards us the whole crowd was talking about what they resembled.

inisboffin

The Cathedral stuff lasted a good half hour I'd say!
Were you round the side, or watching the singing/choir?

Consensus from my friends is that it was good but too short.

I don't agree that the 'theme' was too arty, any theme would work, and there have been plenty of parades in the past 15 years based on Mythology of sorts.

Money was a huge factor, but it also seemed that a big fault lay in not communicating to the regular parade goers that it wasn't the 'usual' procession.
Those who joined in and followed seemed to have a great time. People around say, Jurys got a very short end of the stick.
Personally, from the inside I saw some great performances, happy faces and beautiful craftwork. Sweet but too short.

Discodog

I cannot understand why they don't save a night time parade for Halloween. It gets dark so late in July & Halloween would be perfect especially with a firework display at the end.

I know a friend who is a creative genius & has worked on a lot of projects. He contacted Macnas three times about volunteering & never got a reply.

Sponge Bob

Discodog wrote: »

He contacted Macnas three times about volunteering & never got a reply.

There are 2 Macnas' nowadays are there not ?? He may have contacted the 'wrong' one.

Discodog

Sponge Bob wrote: »

There are 2 Macnas' nowadays are there not ?? He may have contacted the 'wrong' one.

Blimey are there ?. So are they Macnas', Macnases, or Macni ?

gary82

If true, they should have had a parade-off!

inisboffin

There's only one Macnas. Perhaps you're referring to Arcana - years ago the old Macnas gang separated into 2 companies (it's more complicated, but that's a simple explanation). Arcana do big corporate gigs like the giant heads at Croake Park etc, Macnas do the community based stuff, theatre shows, parades etc.

Surprised your friend heard nothing back - the volunteer co-ordinator was excellent this year. Perhaps it was before they were on board for the parade? A few core staff were let go recently too, due to funds:(

Sponge Bob

inisboffin wrote: »

There's only one Macnas. Perhaps you're referring to Arcana

Never knew what the second bit was called, thanks .

There was a spatette between Charlie Adley ( journo/commentator) and Gary Mac Mahon on a blog a few weeks back . Gary was involved in Macnas for a long time, don't know about nowadays . This was written before the parade .

http://doubledoublevision.blogspot.com/2009/07/we-galwegians-are-divorced-from-galway.html

Hate to disagree with you but the purpose of the Macnas is not, and never has been, to say thank you to the people of Galway. Why should it be? Thanks for what?

The purpose of the Macnas Parade each year should be about the public expression of either an individual or collective artistic idea. It's purpose is not the creation of some civic feel-good feeling.

Macnas is, or at least should be, an artist-led company creating spectacle on a grand scale. If people, including kids, feel good after experiencing the Macnas Parade - great but we're in the realm of unintended consequences here. Plenty of Macnas Parades over the years had the distinct notion of critiqueing the way Galway was or was headed.

It's why Macnas is an arts company in an Arts Festival - not a circus participating in a civic celebration.

Regards

Gary McMahon

This years parade was not "spectacle on a grand scale" but spectacle on a small scale .

If Macnas cannot get the "grand scale" back into the spectacle I think they should not bother us with an anticlimactic non event next year .

I dread to meet someone who travelled with their kids to see that

Foxerella

Should have called this years parade...
BLINKANDU'LLMISSIT.
Bit of an anticlimax

Discodog

That is probably when the rot set in. So many "Arts" groups die by suffocating up their creative arses. Macnas may feel that it is not their duty to entertain us but they happily accept money from us.

A pyrotechnic, doom laden, Archaos, Arcadia (people may of seen them at Electric Picnic) style Halloween parade ending in a big bonfire/fireworks performance could easily attract sponsorship. But (noses in the air )... would it be art ?.

inisboffin

I for one think Macnas are the last people in Galway with their noses in the air!

It seems to be a lot about expectation, this whole discussion. People were expecting something and they didn't get it. Talked to a few non-Irish folk who had never seen a Macans parade and they loved it, and thought it was very magical, fun etc. They joined it and followed it without knowing what they were supposed to to.

For many of the rest of us, there was a feeling of being short changed regarding the LENGTH of the thing, not the quality. Most people have little argument re the quality of the piece.

I would encourage people to volunteer for next year. Time, energy, materials etc. If you want it to be longer, increase the manpower!


On a side note, I too would LOVE a halloween nighttime parade, it would have to be a Sat night though, because of kids, unless school breaks lined up perfectly, and we would be way worse at the mercy of the weather.

Discodog

The article mentioned previously is really worth a full read. Macnas need to re-engage with the people of Galway. Having hived off the commercial arm they need to declare what they stand for if they want support.

The other thing that puts people off volunteering is the likely need for a garda check. This is also having a big effect on youth groups, teaching etc.

Also the Macnas volunteer form states "Due to the need for trust in the position we cannot automatically accept volunteers."

Maybe there would be a better way of putting this !.

alibabba

Sparkles wrote: »

I couldn't believe how short the parade was last night...I timed 9 mins of action in total before the Order of Malta van coming down the street confirmed it really was over. After waiting 40 mins down near Jury's for it to start, 9 mins of parade was simply not enough. And what is the deal with different floats joining the parade at locations along the route? Who the hell came up with that with that gem of wisdom?!! Oh there was a big giant horse in there too? Really? Cos he didnt make an appearance at the Spanish Arch!! Now, it wasn't so bad for me to go and take a look at the whole lot at the cathedral carpark for the finale but not everyone would be able to snake their way across town to see it. Really it was a bit of a damp squib of a finale at that.....no fireworks, just a couple of flares and glitter. Where was the drama we've come to know and love with Macnas? Maybe it joined the parade at another location briefly and left again before I caught a glimpse of it? Anyone agree??!

(Lack of) Money Talks !

inisboffin

Discodog wrote: »

The other thing that puts people off volunteering is the likely need for a garda check. This is also having a big effect on youth groups, teaching etc.

Also the Macnas volunteer form states "Due to the need for trust in the position we cannot automatically accept volunteers."

Maybe there would be a better way of putting this !.

Yes, perhaps the wording could be a little better..I get the sentiment though.
AFAIK though, the form just asks if you would be willing to have a Garda check. I don't think it necessarily a given that you have one. For example if you come in through say another group or a language school. A lot of volunteers come in with a friend that has volunteered in the past.

Sponge Bob

inisboffin wrote: »

I don't think it necessarily a given that you have one.

You only need it if left supervising kids alone , that would be daft nowadays .

Procedurally organisations like Macnas / Girl Guides / Summmer Camps should NEVER allow any adult to be alone with kids and certainly not with a single kid.

By doubling up at all times and insisting that sessions do not proceed in the absence of a second or even a third adult then everybody is protected .

One clever way to do it is to insist parents join a rota where one must be present at all times ( US soccer does this , if the parent is not there there is no training , period ) . However if a parent does not show it is their fault not that of the organisation and you can carry on if two adults are there.

Redhairedguy

I agree that the parade was quite short, even though, by the end of it down by the cathedral it was quite kicking.

And with regards to people's requests about videos. The entire parade was covered by GAF TV (A new branch of the Arts Festival crowd that record and edit everything on in the Arts Festival and put it up online.)

Linky, to Macnas Parade Videos

There should be 3 different ones in total

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