FLUGTAG!!!

Today was the Portland edition of the Red Bull Flugtag. This is an event where teams make "flying" contraptions and try to fly them off of a 30 foot ledge. The teams are judged on creativity and distance of flight. Most of the "flying machines" don't actually fly but they fall very fast. All of the teams have a different theme. When they get to the launch platform the teams answer some questions about thier contraption then do choregraphed dance to their theme. They then load one person in the contraption and the rest of the team pushes like a bobsled. When they get to the end of the ramp the whole team jumps in. You can see the launch platform in this picture with a viking dragon like thing about to go off. The event was held at the Willamette waterfront park in downtown Portland. Some friends and took a break from lab work and went down to watch. There were an estimated 60,000 people at the event. There were people standing on the bridge in the background, people on the other side of the river, people in boats and people packed onto the shore and grassy areas. There were people everywhere.