Nuit Blanche

   Each year on the first Saturday of October most of downtown Toronto turns into an interactive art exhibit from 6:49 pm on Saturday to sunrise on Sunday and this year there were 132 separate art installations divided into three regions of the downtown area.

   The City of Toronto commissioned 45 public art exhibits by local, national and international artists while the local educational, cultural and neighbourhood groups and institutions had independent art projects. All installations were free and open to the general public. My favourite was the streetcar at the corner of Yonge and Dundas streets which was turned into an adventure ride and can be seen on the video below.

   Another example was Scotiabank’s Fluxe project:

FLUXe is an imaginative collaboration of strangers and artists coming together to create on a large digital canvas - a 100 foot x 33 foot LED screen suspended on the north side of Scotia Plaza. In this interactive digital art installation, you’ll have the opportunity to transform the urban back drop of Scotia Plaza with your own creative vision in collaboration with one of nine featured artists.

Be the artist!

Move your finger to create brushstrokes that instantly transform the grey cityscape into a space that echoes your most unique inner artistry. Once you’ve created your whimsical composition, watch as other people add their creative twist, making it a constantly changing work of art. Then go to the FLUXe facebook gallery to see your artwork and to enter for a chance to win a Blackberry playbook.

A diverse group of artists spanning a wide range of artistic styles created brush patterns to make your painting even more inspired. Combine their vision with your creative finger for an unforgettable foray into immersive art.

   And here is another video:

  There're lots of more videos of the various installations on youtube. Public transit was available all night but no cars.

Greek festival 2011 (2)

Greek festival 2011 (1)

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  Yesterday I went to the Toronto Greek festival on Danforth avenue which is called the”Taste of the Danforth” and it was packed! I had lots of Greek food, souvlaki, gyros and quail, from the street vendors and took quite a few pictures to share with my readers. Although the weather stations called for rain, it turned out to be a very nice day. From the festival website:

Toronto's favourite street festival has a whole new way to celebrate the fun flavours of Greece and summer in the city. Every year in August, the city of Toronto flocks to GreekTown on the Danforth. Celebrating its 18th year, the Pilaros Taste of the Danforth is Canada's largest street festival, welcoming over 1.3 million visitors.

This year's festival begins on Friday, August 5th at 6:00pm and runs through to Sunday, August 7th at 8:00pm.

A Decima Research poll indicated that 90% of respondents identified "The Taste" as their favourite GTA festival event -- beating out such iconic events as the Toronto International Film Festival, Caribana and Pride Week. The Pilaros Taste of the Danforth won two Toronto Sun Reader's Choice Awards: a Gold for Favourite Community Festival and a Silver for Favourite Summer Festival.

The GTA lays claim to more than 200,000 residents of Greek ancestry, the third largest Hellenic community outside of Greece, and between August 5th and 7th, 2011, everyone who comes to the Danforth gets to be "Greek for the day". But there is much more than the celebration of the Danforth's Greek heritage at the festival. Here is a "taste" of what to expect ...

There are a number of exhibitors offering contests, prizes and free samples and, of course, dozens and dozens of tasty food stations from Danforth’s amazing array of multi-ethnic restaurants.

Festival attendees will also have the opportunity to win an incredible Trip for Two to Glorious Greece, courtesy of Transat Holidays.

About the Taste of the Danforth

The Taste of the Danforth was founded 17 years ago in 1994 by the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA. The first festival featured 23 restaurateurs and an eclectic mix of tastes from tasting tables. Approximately 5,000 people attended in the inaugural year. In its second year, attendance had grown to 100,000 and by 1996 the festival had become so large that the Danforth had to be officially closed down to accommodate its over 500,000 visitors. Today approximately 1.3 million attendees flock to the Danforth -- from Broadview to Jones Avenue (approximately 3 kilometres) -- to enjoy food, entertainment and culture, providing them with a 'taste' of what the Danforth area has to offer year-round.

The festival is supported by Ontario Tourism ... Ontario, Yours To Discover, as well as the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation.

The festival's title sponsor is Pilaros International Trading Inc. Pilaros is a leading importer of Mediterranean food products, primarily olives and olive oil, what the ancient Greeks refer to as "the Essence of Life".

The festival is produced and presented by the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA, representing all the restaurateurs and merchants. The festival is organized by the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA Board and a volunteer committee led by Constantine Voidonicolas, who devote their private time to make the festival happen. Without their outstanding efforts, the festival simply could not take place.

In 2010 the festival commissioned an Economic Impact Study which revealed that the Taste of the Danforth makes a significant impact on the local economy, generating $32 million in economic activity. Event-related spending alone supports the equivalent of 158 full-year jobs. The festival also generated approximately $4 million in tax revenue.

Caribana 2011 (2)

video of march

Caribana 2011 (1)

The Parade banner

   As I said in an earlier post, I went to the Caribana parade at the downtown lakeshore near Ontario Place on Saturday. I arrived around noon when the temperature was about 30 degrees Celsius and the crowds were still growing. The parade had actually started at ten o’clock in the morning and would finish at six o’clock in the evening. This was the culminating event in a festival that had been going for three weeks but I was spending my time going to such festivals as the Mexican and Iranian about which I have already blogged. Caribana is the big mother of toronto festivals and the largest West Indian festival in North America with a cast of thousands and almost a million people watching including 175,000 from the states. From the festival’s website:

Among the highlights is the Parade, one of the largest in North America. Thousands of brilliantly costumed masqueraders and dozens of trucks carrying live soca, calypso, steel pan, reggae and salsa artists jam the 1.5 km parade route all day, to the delight of hundreds of thousands of onlookers.

 
Caribana was created in 1967 as a community heritage project for Canada's Centennial year. Based on Trinidad Carnival, the Festival now also includes the music, dance, food and costumes of many Caribbean islands, and other cultures represented in Toronto - the world's most culturally diverse city.

 

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 Some of the other events in the last three weeks from the website were:

Junior Carnival — July 16 — 10 am - 2pm: The kid’s version of the Marquee parade attracting over 30,000 spectators. The parade features 2,000 mini masqueraders, some as young as two years old. 

Gala — July 22: An elegant evening at the Liberty Grand that showcases masquerade models, music, dancing, exotic food, signature drink. This is the festival’s showcased event, which attracts well-heeled clientele supporting worthy causes.  

Calypso Monarch — July 23: After weeks of performances, calypsonians that have made the final cut will compete in the evening competition for the crown.

King and Queen Competition and Show — July 28: A display of the talent and artistic skill of the designers and costume builders of the King, Queen, male and female individual costumes. These masqueraders compete in costumes that weigh two to three times their body weight.

Pan Alive — July 29: Steel pan performers ranging in age from early teens to adults perform their original renditions at the Allan Lamport Stadium.

Arriving at the parade grounds

GO train

 I took the GO train, Government of Ontario commuter train, to get to the Caribana parade today. It's a very fast and comfortable means of transportation to get from the exurbs and suburbs of Toronto to downtown. You can see from the map above that the rails go quite a distance from Toronto. The coaches have two stories as well as washrooms for long commutes. It's also very inexpensive and cost me $8 for a day pass with unlimited trips. Lots of free parking near the stations as well. I took some pictures.

Indian festival 2011

 

  Here’s another festival to which I didn’t have time to go this month. Same weekend as the Mexican festival about which I did post. Today, I did get to the Caribana festival, the largest West Indian festival in North America and the big Mama of Toronto festivals. It’s been going on for the last three weeks but I’ve been going to the other festivals that I have posted with the exception of the Tirgan, Iranian festival, about which I must finish posting. The Caribana main parade started at ten o’clock this morning and finished at six o’clock in the evening so there were eight hours of enumerable over –the-top displays and marchers that I photographed and will post when I get the time. I better get these posted before the Greek festival in the first week of next month as well as the African dance festival and the Canadian National Exhibition. Busy summer!  

Indian festival parade source JonnyL

  At least I better show a video of Indian dancing at the festival. Don’t ask me about the particular form or style.

Ribfest 2011

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I went to Ribfest in Scarborough, an eastern suburb of Toronto, today to taste the best of BBQ pork and chicken. I've gone for a couple of years and it seems to get bigger every time. A lot of the vendors come from the southern states and I noticed the regulars from Alabama, Florida, Kansas, South Carolina and Texas. When I first went to ribfest, all of the vendors from the south had at least one Confederate flag but I didn't see any this year. Is this indicative of some kind of social change in the States? They also had organic beer for the first time which wasn't bad. For entertainment, they had groups such as Judy Kanyo & the Redneck Soul Band.

Pulled Pork sandwich

BBQ competition judges