Opening Night

Holy crap.
Last night was Opening Night for the festival.
What was a calm and serene scene when we arrived at 2pm....
But come 4pm... that serenity was replaced.
No matter how much preparation we had, we could've never planned for what occurred.
We sold nearly 5000 Blue Badges (which guaranteed access to Opening Night). That is 2000 MORE than capacity of the venue.
Pessimistically, we thought "not everyone is going to show up".
Well, needless to say, they did. AND MORE. (I estimate between 6000-7000 people)
What started as a Semi-functioning entrance point....
soon became an all out free for all.
It was impossible to really gain control of the situation because the buses just kept coming in with loads more people.
When there were no more chairs left, it became something like Beatle-mania.
But we handled it the best we could and it turned out to be an amazing night.
Loads of people were there to witness history being made.

Big ups to our Emcee's for the night, Mohammed Al-Ibrahim, Hamida Al-Kuwari (The Arab Oprah) and Waheed for putting on a great show.

I went back to the hotel for a nap before the Opening Night Party at the Four Seasons....
BUT, that nap turned into a full out hibernation. No regrets though. Waking up at 630 this morning was easier than it has been for 3 months.
Now, on to Day 2.
We'll see what's in store when the surprises come our way.