Before a crowd of 400, with music blaring and bright lights pulsing, four entrepreneur finalists, screened for their business plans, competed in a speed round of area code numbers for high-tech centers from west to east.

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The athletes burst through puffs of smoke amid dimmed lights and blaring heavy metal music, their names displayed with colorful lighting.

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He runs them endlessly through chutes, blaring loud music, until they are comfortable with the routine they will encounter in the arena.

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The festival peaks on Whitsunday (19 May) with a street parade, which features colourful dance groups from Korea and Japan, trucks blaring music from Brazil and Angola, plus Irish folk, Jamaican dancehall, Caribbean soca and more.

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