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Toronto Travel: Buskerfest 2009

admin — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 06:08:21 +0000

Every weekend in the summer there are different things going on in Toronto. One of the festivals that has been gaining popularity is Torontos BuskerFest, a festival of street performers that is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Sponsored by Scotiabank, the festival raises funds for the Toronto Epilepsy Foundation, so it all goes to a good cause. To catch some of these interesting performances I went downtown on August 28, 2009 to Torontos historic St. Lawrence Neighbourhood. Front Street was blocked off between Yonge Street and Lower Jarvis Street and people were milling about, checking out the action. 8 stages had been set up and more than 100 performers were scheduled for the evening, hailing from countries including Canada, the United States, Great Britain, German, Japan, Portugal, Australia and Newzealand. Stands selling food, clothing and jewellery were set up in the middle of the street; kids were getting their faces painted; temporary tattoos were being applied; everything was set for an evening of fun. Upon entering from Jarvis Street I was greeted by the mysterious sounds of didgeridoos provided by Matt James from Australia. Stiltwalkers stalked through the crowd, Silver Elvis attracted lots of photographers, sidewalk chalk drawings were coming to life. I caught several acts, including the Fast Horses a family of native American performers whose two young children are very comfortable in front of a large audience. Dado, a German based mime and clown …

Toronto Travel: Cabbage Town Festival 2009

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 03:34:32 +0000

Trying to catch the last few rays of summer, I hopped on my bike on September 12, 2009 to see whats going on in the city. My research had revealed that the Cabbagetown Festival was on, so on a gorgeous day with brilliant blue skies I cycled down the Don Valley bike path and pushed my bike up the steep bridge onto the Riverdale Footbridge. Moments later I had arrived at Riverdale Farm which was buzzing with people. In addition to the regular visitors to this urban farm there were thousands of other visitors who were here to enjoy the Cabbagetown Festival. Children were participating in various games such as a sunflower seed spitting contest while some time later a country music band was making the young ones dance. Officially called the Cabbagetown Arts & Craft Sale and Riverdale Farm Fair, this festival has been going for more than 20 years. In Riverdale Park I strolled past dozens of vending booths that were selling all sorts of art and crafts, from paintings to pottery to fine hand-made jewelry and fabric art to hand-made soaps and many other creative products. The entire Cabbagetown neighbourhood had essentially become a big street sale because local residents were also holding garage sales on their front lawns. Vendor booths and live music were set up on Parliament, the major north-south thoroughfare which had been turned into a pedestrian zone. The entire neighbourhood was abuzz was visitors from near and far. During the mid-afternoon I happened to come across a …