NAKED CITY: TROPFEST 2014 – WHEN BIGGER AIN’T ALWAYS BETTER!
There’s no denying that Tropfest is a phenomenon, one that grew from the most humble beginnings in a Darlinghurst café and rolled on to conquer the world. In Sydney, audiences have flocked to the Domain in recent years with crowds estimated at around the 100,000 mark. This year however the move was made to Centennial Park where the current spate of thunderstorms saw the crowd drop to less than a twentieth of that number.
There’s sure to be lots of soul searching on the part of the Tropfest organisers as to why the attendance was so low, ever allowing for the weather. There are also questions hanging over the organisation of the event, particularly in the treatment of the fifty or more volunteers who gave up their time for free.
But for starters, why was the move made to the wilds of Centennial Park in the first place? The official line was that Tropfest had outgrown the Domain and was looking for a site that could accommodate up to 150,000. A very dark site as it turned out, particularly if you happened to be watching the SBS coverage. There was none of the ambient illumination from the city skyline available at the Domain and the global TV audience must have wondered whether Sydney was experiencing a periodic blackout. The park is also a lot less accessible by public transport compared to its city counterpart. There may have been other reasons for leaving the Domain but the primary motive seems to have been an obsession with crowd numbers and the need to create an even bigger event.
Now to the handling of the fifty or more volunteers involved in the event, some of whom were on the site from 7.00am in the morning. We spoke to a number of these volunteers and the general feeling was of disappointment and disenchantment at the way they were treated. One seasoned volunteer we contacted was particularly upset at the treatment dished out by the event organisers. Unlike similar large scale festivals such as the Sydney Festival and Sydney Film Festival there was no induction or briefing of volunteers prior to their various shifts. Nor was there the mandatory OH&S drilling, normal with such events. Given the darkness of the venue and the inevitability of bad weather, this seems particular amiss.
Apart from the ‘thrill’ of participation volunteers were rewarded with a Tropfest t-shirt and a flimsy plastic poncho. There was no bottled water, no free food whatsoever, and not a cup of coffee to be had on site, even if you were prepared to pay for it. Given that some of the volunteers signed up for shifts as long as sixteen hours, the absence of any complimentary nourishment, not even a plate of soggy sandwiches, seems incredibly mean. While VIPs whooped it up with all manner of gourmet free fodder, volunteers had to make do with a voucher for a free Slurpee.
Whether Tropfest remains in the woodland abyss of Centennial Park next year remains to be seen. A return to the more punter-friendly Domain would appear the most sensible option. Regardless of the venue, organisers might take time out to confer with the volunteer co-ordinators at the Sydney Fest and Sydney Film Fest who have set the standard in recent years when it comes to looking after those who give up their time for free.
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