La noche en lluvia

Strange Fruit's The Field performance is at least available as online video

I so looking forward to participate in Madrid's Noche en Blanco this past weekend, to see some of the more than 175 musical and other performances making up what was billed as an all-night cultural extravaganza. Unfortunately, the whole endeavor failed, in my opinion, due to an unseasonal, unusually strong rainstorm and overcrowding. A. and I got up to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium around 9 p.m. Saturday hoping to see "pole" dancers from the Sydney-based company Strange Fruit, but was canceled due to rain.

We took the (very packed) metro back to the Paseo del Prado area but by then it was pouring. At least we had brought ponchos. Most of the other outdoor acts were cut short or canceled, meaning we missed the tightrope-walking "Les Etoiles" among many other interesting acts. A disappointing night for us and many other madrileños (some of whom waited more than 2 hours to enter indoor museum exhibits). More problems are enumerated in the Madrid press articles here and here. Hopefully the organizers will be able to make some precautionary weather-related adjustments for next year.