October, 2005 - Nr. 10
Dick reports...
More ethnic street-festivals
We have covered the "Taste of the Danforth", The "Ukrainian Festival" at the Bloor –West Village and "Zabava" on the Harbourfront and the "Chinese Festival" on Spadina.
Next
item on the agenda was the "Taste of the Kingsway"
on Bloor West.
This
annual Fall Festival, held from Prince Edward Drive to Montgomery Road on
Bloor Street, turned out to be a food and entertainment ex
travaganza
with loads of fun and activities for everyone.
Since there was a Midway, even the children had their
entertainment. Of
course
the ‘Midway’ is the same conglomeration of booths and rides that we already
saw at the Danfo
rth
and the Ukrainian festival. They travel around the country to all the
summer’s fairs and other festivities, in order to survive the harsh Canadian
winter, so I was informed.
Most
of the restaurants on this strip actively participated in welcoming the many
visitors with e
xcellent
food and drink, from Canadian to ethnic varieties. There were about 30 of
them to choose from and many had facilities set up on the sidewalk or the
road itself to appeal to the passing crowd.
Of
course there were other attractions too. The Scotiabank hosted a ‘Superdog
Show’ in support of the Etobicoke Humane Society with help from Coco’s Pet
Boutique, Eukanuba, IAMS Company, the Canina Consulting and Training
Services and others.
Some of the features the dogs were judged on were: Best
Groomed, Cleanest Teeth, Waggiest Tail, Obedience and Agility demos, Most
Obedient, Best Smile, Best Trick and much more. Some of the
demonstrations
were hilarious and the dogs seemed to love to perform.
More entertainm
ent
on the main stage at the end of the festival area took place all day. I
managed to catch only the Badia Star Dancers, which performed Arabian dances
and belly dances to the delight of a large audience.
Polish Festival
And
then there was Poland, a week later on Roncesvalles Avenue with more
festivities. Another large ethnic community that is proud of its heritage.
Hosted
by the St. Stanislaus – St. Casimir’s Polish Parishes Credit Union, this
Polish Festival presented some of the unique legacy of this proud member of
our multicultural community. Many
of
the restaurants – not all of Polish origin – offered tastes outside of their
establishments ranging between $1.00 and $5.00. Yes, there were perogies,
Zywiec beer and Luksusova Vodka f
rom
Poland in the beverage garden! Enjoying food and drink on the outside patios
and watching the world go by used to be commonplace back in Europe.
The
Credit Union Stage featured many Polish and Canadian performers. On Saturday
night the visitors were invited to t
he
traditional "Dance Under the Stars".
When
I walked south on the street I heard this fantastic band playing polkas and
waltzes, loud enough to be heard a few blocks away, down the street. I went
to look
for
it and finally found it! It was the one-man band of Tadeusz Staszewski with
two keyboards, a mike and an umbrella who was e
ntertaining
the crowd - all by his little lonesome! "I am just an amateur," he said, oh
yeah? He sounded very professional!
Of
course there were many little kiosks set up along the route that were doing
great business selling everything from honey to tablecloths and jewellery.
Most of them the same ones we met at other events in the city.
Seafaring Romantic at the Danube Swabian Club
When
the "Altländer Shanty Chor" visited the club, they not only brought about 30
male singers with them but also this years "Blütenkönigin" or flower queen –
loosely translated. The 18 year old Anna Krüger and her escort Konrad Hofer
were a colourfully dressed addition to the simple attire worn by the choir
members.
The choir comes from the "Alte Land", the old country part of the southern shores of the river Elbe, near Hamburg, an area dedicated mainly to fruit orchards but is also the home of many seafarers.
The choir also brought five young ladies along that wore the "Tracht" – the costumes – of the region and performed some traditional folk-dances for the audience.
The choir of course brought their own musical accompaniment with them consisting of accordion, guitars, base fiddle and banjo. This made for a great sound to escort the choir.
All
these shanties and ‘sea songs’ were unforgettable entertainment, although
some that were sung in "Platt" – dialect, didn’t quite arrive. However there
were many that were familiar and the audience was invited to freely sing
along.
"Ohrenschmaus" at the Donauschwaben
This
is a big word and could be loosely translated as "Festive culinary event for
the ears", and that was what one member of the audience called it. I had to
agree!
The "Musikverein Umritz-Rhein" - after participating in the ‘Steuben Parade’ in New York – visited a full house at the Danube Swabian Club to entertain with fabulous music.
The
marriage of woodwinds and brass was a magnificent match ‘made in heaven’ and
rarely ever have I noticed the large audience approving a band with such
fervor.
One item that was very noticeable was the fact that the greater numbers of the male and female musicians were young people, a sign that helping the youth is considered very important to insure continuance of the traditions, in Germany. Something we mostly missed doing here in Canada with our own youth! The band also maintains a senior youth orchestra of 61 members (Jugendblasorchester) and a junior orchestra of 31 youngsters that are being trained and will move up as they grow old enough.
There were only 35 members of the 154-member band performing on this North American tour but that was that was needed to provide the huge audience with this great performance. Marches, waltzes, polkas and much more tunes - under the proficient direction of bandleader Gerhard Schmidt - were on the menu.
The audience was invited to dance and to sing along if they
felt like it. The atmosphere was captivating to say the least. Over 80
‘Schlachtenbummler’ (Groupies, if you like) were also present and included
Manfred Kuhn, the Mayor of Umritz who also presented a plaque to the club at
the conclusion of the event.
The
club presented a book depicting the history and photos of Toronto to the
Mayor and one to the band for their archives.
One comment the bandleader made was that he was very surprised to find a full house at this event in the middle of the week!
Well, there were still three empty chairs available in the
great hall and some in the mezzanine upstairs!
Oktoberfest at the Hansa Haus
This
year the annual Oktoberfest featured a visiting band from Markt Erkheim,
Germany on the first evening. This band was founded in 1754 and celebrated
its 250th anniversary last year.
A
bit of a problem with an oven in the kitchen delayed the food service a bit,
but that didn’t upset the band members or the crowd and everything went back
to normal - after a short wait - and the sold-out hall was soon fed and
satisfied.
The
stage at the Hansa Haus is large enough to accommodate the whole 35-member
band. That left the dance floor free for the public and the Schuhplattler
entertainment that was provided by the S.T.V. Weiss-Blau Bayern during the
evening.
S.T.V. Weiss-Blau Bayern
The bell ringer - Carmen Harany - was also fabulous and perfect in her performances. She is getting better and better! Her renditions even included a sea-shanty now - that did not originate in southern Germany, as did most of the other tunes.
Some of the tunes the band was playing were suitable for dancing – a fact that was quickly taken advantage of by the audience. All in all: Great Entertainment!
On
the next day – Saturday – a performance was scheduled in the German Club in
Guelph and after visits in southern Ontario and Muskoka the band will
continue on to Texas, and will later go on a cruise that will take them to
Progresso, Cozumel and Belize. They will also celebrate Oktoberfest on board
of the cruise ship.
More wonderful entertainment at the Hansa Haus on Saturday when the Harmonie Brass Show band entertained the revellers with their rich palette of tunes suitable for an Oktoberfest setting. It was a full house again. Not really surprising since the Harmonie Brass Band tends to draw large crowds, wherever they play.
With audience participation
The
S.T.V. Weiss-Blau Bayern Schuhplattler provided additional entertainment
when the band took a well-deserved break.
By the way, Fiete Münzner and Uta Carina are coming again to
the Hansa Club in November. Plan for it already!
It’s Pumpkin Fest again!
If you are looking for an excuse to go on a great weekend outing, visit Downey’s Farm Market on Heart Lake Road – north of Brampton. And bring the kids for some unforgettable – down-to-earth – entertainment. It starts on September 24th and goes till October 30.
Each weekend features new attractions for big and little kids, such as ‘Birds of Prey’, the ‘Abracadabra Magic Show’, the ‘Styleamanders’, the ‘Juggler’ Greg Tarlin and ‘Madame Buskerfly’. Plus all the other regular attractions featuring wagon rides, ‘Critter Zoo’, ‘Bare Bones Band’, ‘Super Corn Maze’, Puppet shows, the ‘Black Hole’ and much more to keep the youngsters out from underfoot. Downey’s Farm Market is slightly haunted this time of year.
And don’t overlook the fact that you can do all your grocery produce shopping at the same time, while the kids can entertain themselves.
Why do they call it "Pumpkinfest"? Because there are also thousands of affordable pumpkins of all sizes available for Halloween. But come and see for yourself!
As always
Dick Altermann
Comments to: dick@echoworld.com
