Reminds me of an international assembly in 2003 in Sydney. 60000 people packed into a stadium in summer with little shade cover. Sitting on seats for days that became uncomfortable after 1 hour.
The worst part was that even though they speak of a brotherhood, there was no way to celebrate it.
The crowds were so bad it made it almost impossible to meet up with friends and family who had come from all over the country and had not seen each other for years. An elderly relative of mine had travelled 3 days on a bus to attend.
On Sunday the speaker cut into lunch by 20 minutes and this time wasn't added to the lunch break to make up for it so people could catch up.
It took about 40 mins and 2 trains to get to the Olympic stadium from the city and then another 15 mins to walk and find a seat.
We were all told to bring our lunch with us and take our litter home with us as no bins were provided. You can imagine how pleasant it was carrying leftover tuna sandwiches home on the train after a day in the Australian summer sun. We were also encouraged not to eat at any of the restaurants around the venue like McDonald's.
The whole event was a PR exercise for the organisation with no arrangements for anyone to socialise. It could have been an event to fondly remember but of course it wasn't.
