Festival Goers left out in the cold amid security fears at this years Wintermas Festival
Article written by Abraham Baggley, Photos taken by Abraham Baggley for the Lucian Times
The first festival to be held at Insomnia since the invasion seemed to start off well, with the King of Light reborn, King Noctis Lucis Caelum providing the opening speech, and providing a story of his own memories of one Wintermas with his father. This bright and warming opening speech seemed to set the theme for the day.
At least that is what the government would have you believe. While children were distracted by the spectacle of late season presents, brought by Santa-mog, and pulled along In his sleigh with chocobos, all of the assembled children at least one present each. This festive spirit was ruined however by the attack in the food stall area. The government at least managed to defeat the threat, but it raises questions as to why the festival was held with the lack of planning, or attempts to ensure the rebel forces didn’t manage to cause panic in the event. They were merely lucky that no innocents were harmed, and that the only crownsguard capable of taking such an attack was allied by an individual we can only assume to be a hunter.
Even more telling maybe however was the way that immediately following the chaotic scenes at the market, both the king and queen were hustled away, to the security of the citadel itself, leaving the crowd without any reassurance of their own safety, instead allowing the crownsguard, as well as Sir Ignis, to try and provide some sense of security to the crowd.
This was at least something that the kings right hand tried to do with the crowd, giving the crowd the words “Walk Tall,” among his speech to try and inspire a sense of hope, even with the knowledge of the hardships ahead. Maybe the strong stable vibe he was hoping to achieve was ruined by the stumble as he turned to leave the balcony, though much of the crowd were no doubt distracted by the fireworks display starting.
The main event would certainly be the firework display, with the explosions getting larger as night fell properly – hopefully this explosive welcome of the new year would indicate only good things to happen, not a continuation of bad luck that had plagued the festival.