On Saturday night it was the ‘grand finale’ of the festival. In order to get a good view people began to gather early, long before it was dark, as the photo below by Paolo Tanze shows. By the time the concert started there were so many people that there was not one patch of grass visible on the bank and crowds were also standing on the path and the bridge to the castle.While the etno histeria world orchestra began to assemble on the stage over the lake, the Czech folklore ensemble from the music school of Chrást, near Plzeň stood among the crowds and began the evening’s entertainment with music from South and West Bohemia….
…and I made this drawing to accompany their performance.
Then the orchestra began to play….
…and I began a new drawing sequence.
Below, Matija Solce in his golden suit plays his accordion on the raft in front of the orchestra…
…and in the photo above on the bank opposite the bridge the huge fantastic bear puppets can just be seen in the darkness swaying in time to the music. The atmosphere was quite magical, the music of the orchestra, acrobats under the bridge, the puppets and the castle reflected in the water – all together it made it a real joy for me to draw.
Then , with Matija on the stage leading the orchestra, the concert continued with a spectacular fire show…
…followed by more great music from the orchestra….
.., and of course the audience kept applauding and shouting for more!
It was very late when we turned off the projector and packed up our equipment and I was so thankful when Pepa and the crew arrived to carry everything up the steep bank for us – it had been a great concert, definitely a night to remember!