(and we would steal them if it only made sense)
Last weekend, thousands of people participated in the Rotterdam Marathon. It basically takes over the entire city centre and the spectators are partying like they’re celebrating King’s Day.
The one thing we love most about the event is that all the runners receive a race number to pin on their shirt that also includes their first name. Maybe this is common practice for marathons all over the world (we don’t really know much about sporting events) but whoever came up with the idea is a genius.
For over six hours, the people of Rotterdam are cheering on random runners, shouting out their first names:
‘Only two more kilometres, Margaret!’
‘You’ve got this, Bob!’
It really is the sweetest, most heart-warming thing ever.
We also hear from friends who are amateur athletes that this kind of encouragement makes all the difference when you’re on the verge of exhaustion.
And of course that got us thinking…
The Left of the Dial family is a supportive bunch and our festival is kind of like a marathon.
Wouldn’t it be cool if we gave everybody the option to order their personalised race number?
For a minute or two, we thought that this was the best idea ever. How could this not strengthen the bonds of our already tight-knit community? We had visions of ticket holders rooting for fellow revellers who they’ve never met before:
‘Only two more bands, Margaret!’
‘Let me hold your glasses while you mosh, Bob!’
Then we weren’t so sure anymore.
Was there ever a time that we actually enjoyed people randomly yelling out our names? We rarely need encouragement to go see the next band, and anonymously blending into the crowd is one of our favourite things about festivals. If that’s how we feel, it’s likely that other people also prefer a certain level of incognito-ness.
So, for now we’re going to put this idea on the back burner. Next week, we’re adding at least another 30 new artists to the Left of the Dial lineup, so we’ve got our hands full anyway. But in the unlikely event that we change our minds and suddenly offer Left of the Dial race numbers with your own name on them, you now know where the idea came from.
Big love,
The Concept Stealers of Left of the Dial
