Lola A. Åkerström shares photos from the popular Red Bull Flugtag in Stockholm which brings out the city’s geeky sense of humour and celebrates questionable innovation.
I remember my first Red Bull Flugtag in Baltimore years ago. After watching a giant cocktail glass being pushed off a launch platform with a guy wearing a head-to-toe black body suit grabbing onto the stem of that giant cocktail glass as if incognito, I was hooked.
Red Bull Flugtag, which means flight day or airshow in German, is an event organized by Red Bull in which competitors attempt to fly “home-made, human-powered flying machines” with a maximum wingspan of 30ft and weight of 150 kg. The flying machines are launched off a 30ft high pier into bodies of water – usually in major city harbours around the world for sheer entertainment value.
These flying machines rarely fly off the pier and are judged on the distance traveled, creativity, and the showmanship of its creators.
The first ever Red Bull Flugtag competition was held in Vienna, Austria in 1992 and after much success – people apparently love watching things unsuccessfully launch off piers – it is now held in 35 cities worldwide.
Grab a cup of coffee and check out our entire Red Bull flugtag gallery here.
