This is the same Red Bull that makes silver and blue canned energy drinks, famous for sponsoring impressive dare-devlish stunts like the Stratos space jump - where a sky-diver jumped from the edge of space and broke the sound barrier during his record-breaking free fall.
The Flugtag ("flight day" in German) may not be quite as epic, but it is a lot of fun. It was first held in Austria in 1991, and since then Flugtags have been held around the world. It's a free event and the contest is open to everyone who dreams of building their own man-powered flying machine (size and weight restrictions apply).
This year, Flugtag came to Boston and Louisville. It look place here on the edge of the Ohio River, the same Waterfront Park which hosts many of the city's outdoor events.
The contestants and their creations were lined up near the ramp's base - posing for pictures, answering questions from the curious crowd, and making last minute adjustments to their crafts. The entries varied - from quirky ones destined-to-fail to more serious gliding apparatuses.
As you can see, each team chooses a theme for their craft and costumes. Many chose Kentucky-related ideas showing off some hometown pride. Two of the cutest: the Colonel and his chickens and a bourbon barrel glider.
Bonus points if you can find Isaac in the panorama above.
In the end, the Mad Max themed craft on the right side of the picture below took home first place.
Mentioning who won doesn't seem like a huge deal, since this competition is more about the process - the fun along the way - than the results. There is no cash prize - first through third place winners receive the opportunity to do other Red Bull-ish feats like skydiving.
We made our way to the water to get the best view of the crafts crash landing. Blaring speakers and large screens showed the emcees as they interviewed contestants and the judges about today's event. Then the fun began.
The judges are paying special attention to three categories: distance, creativity and showmanship. After pushing their craft onto the platform, there's about 30-60 seconds time in which the contestants dance or perform a skit to a song of their own selection. It can be hard to see from so far away, but the big screens provided a closer look. In the end, everyone's fate was the same. Pushing as fast as possible, off the edge, into the water.
And since the event takes place on the Ohio River, some of the crowd was able to watch from the comfort of their own boats.
Which was fine until the wind picked up, causing the boats to shift and squish together, and then drift well past the boundary line into the stretch of water marked as the "landing strip".
It delayed the event for around half an hour, the big boats especially unable to easily move out of the way. Some people on the shoreline became irritated and started "booing", one of the boaters responded by mooning us all. It was a bit of a mess and we were eager to watch more ridiculous crafts take the plunge. Eventually, police boats towed the larger boats well out of the way, towards the center of the river, and event staff pushed the boundary buoys back further just to be safe.
These guys below got third place in the end.
Flugtag was entertaining, but we decided not to stay the entire time We were getting hungry and wanted to avoid the mass exodus and traffic at the even'ts end.
The forecast also called for 20% rain on Saturday. Which in these parts, we've learned does not mean that there is a 20% chance that it will rain. Rather it means that 20% of the day, it will be raining.
I snapped this picture on our way out, some gloomy clouds moving in from the west. Sure enough, that 20% got us as we walked back to our cars.
It's such a quirky event - watching strange craft fall to their demise and laughing along with strangers in the crowd. Red Bull Flugtag was well worth the walk, the wait (and the wet).
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