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Jul. 2nd, 2011 09:34 pmIt's the Canada Day long weekend and there's loads going on around the city. I only managed to get to a fraction of it and less than i had planned as it happened. Friday, I went over to the Multicultural Festival, something i don't do every year but i hadn't been for a few years. Unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment for me this year but I think it was more of a case of bad timing than anything.
Luckily it was a beautiful, hot day, something that's been rare these days. I finally got down there mid afternoonish and found the entrance. This festival used to be on the Dartmouth side of the harbour at the ferry terminal. This new area, by the cruise ship piers and the new Art College campus, and the Seafront Farmer's market, is a much larger area for it, i guess but it's more out of the way for me at least. That was annoying to start off with. One of the main attractions is the international food tent but I didn't find there was as much choice as there used to be. Still some variety but not as much as it used to be and mostly the vendors were selling "meals" rather than little samples. I didn't see the barbeques anywhere either and assumed they were not there so that was another strike against it. I had some authentic Mexican food (not spicy) and some Indian curry.
I stopped to watch some dancers on stage but unfortunately they were not that good. I didn't think so anyway. They were from South America in the Andes, or representing that area, I should say. Now I know most of these dance groups are not professionals but many of them do dance for lots of recitals and come across as very professional and very good. This first group was not in that class. It felt more like a group of women in a family or a group of friends all decided that's what they were going to do and did up costumes. The dancing wasn't really good and one of the dances, a "flirtation" type dance, had two women performing, one dressed as a man with a moustache pencilled on her face. The woman that they had introducing each dance did not speak Spanish so her pronounciation was all over the map. It annoyed me so i walked back to the tents where the exhibitions/vendors were to have a look. Very nice things, most of it for sale of course. At the back of the two long tents i saw...... the barbeques! Doh! After i'd already eaten! I walked around a bit more, went to see if there were any other dancers on stage, (there weren't, the Latin America ones were still faffing about) and decided i'd had enough. Shame really, because i've seen some wonderful performers in the past.
As i was handy and as it was free entry on Canada Day, i went to the Pier 21 immigration museum. Halifax was the arrival point for immigrants to Canada between 1928 and 1971. They arrived by ship and dispersed across the country by rail from there. The complex contained an arrivals hall, luggage hall, rail ticket and waiting area, and also things like interview rooms, a place to have someone's general health checked out, etc. During the war, the troop ships left from this pier and after the war, ships bringing the War Brides started arriving. Immigrants arrived from all over the world. The museum tells the stories of the immigrants and the people that worked there. There are artifacts, recorded stories, and lots of things. The museum is on the waterfront and you can look over the outer harbour from the tall windows. Earlier in the morning they'd had a ceremony to create some new Canadian Citizens. They do that every year.
I was hot and tired and footsore from there so i got the bus home. I had planned to go back out in the evening to listen to some of the free music and see the fireworks but once i got home i basically just wilted. I think i was dehydrated to some extent and did feel better after re-liquifying but i just didn't bother to go out again.
Today was another beautiful day. I had plans to meet with my friend T. and her family to go over to the Halifax Common to see the Mi'kmaq Powwow, called Mawio'mi which means The Gathering. They had a Grand Entrance with lots of different people, all ages, all dressed up in full costume and they danced around a circle for awhile to various songs. There were drummers/singers to the sides who were providing the music. The bands were all announced as their representatives entered. We got there fairly late so we didn't get a chance to get a seat on the bleachers but we squeezed in on one side. Thus, most of those photos tended to be of their backs going in the circle. The music is eerie but rhythmic, notes soaring high above the thrumming of the drums. We watched that for awhile and then I went for a walk with T's little boy who is a very active 7 or 8 i think. We went over by the big teepees set up as a village. They had some demonstrations in them for various crafts like beading and basket weaving. Most of the teepees were just canvas and plain but one was decorated with various paintings. T. caught up with us and we went back to find her fella. We left the boy with him and went for a browse along the vendor craft tents. There were lots of interesting items there, from hand made jewelry to the various implements that the performers and dancers would have for their costumes and performances. ... drums, bells, hoops, furs, headpieces. We saw some change purses and a bag the size of a small backpack made of turtle shells on the outside, with sueded leather behind it.
T. had told me about the Indian "tacos" that she had there last year, said they were really good but when we found the food vendors, the prices were stupidly high, 10 dollars for one! I wasn't paying that no matter how good they were! Back to the performance circle, it was nearly over but we managed to get seats this time. The drummers were right in front of us and performed a number for a "hoop" dance. There were young people dancing on the field with hoops but i never saw them, i was too interested in the drummers. They sit in a circle and pound on the drums and sing... well it's kind of howl really at the top of their voices, but it's amazing stuff. The drumming itself is more or less just a rhythm to keep time with just a few variations.
There are photos and a few videos on Flickr here.
( a few photos behind the cut )
Luckily it was a beautiful, hot day, something that's been rare these days. I finally got down there mid afternoonish and found the entrance. This festival used to be on the Dartmouth side of the harbour at the ferry terminal. This new area, by the cruise ship piers and the new Art College campus, and the Seafront Farmer's market, is a much larger area for it, i guess but it's more out of the way for me at least. That was annoying to start off with. One of the main attractions is the international food tent but I didn't find there was as much choice as there used to be. Still some variety but not as much as it used to be and mostly the vendors were selling "meals" rather than little samples. I didn't see the barbeques anywhere either and assumed they were not there so that was another strike against it. I had some authentic Mexican food (not spicy) and some Indian curry.
I stopped to watch some dancers on stage but unfortunately they were not that good. I didn't think so anyway. They were from South America in the Andes, or representing that area, I should say. Now I know most of these dance groups are not professionals but many of them do dance for lots of recitals and come across as very professional and very good. This first group was not in that class. It felt more like a group of women in a family or a group of friends all decided that's what they were going to do and did up costumes. The dancing wasn't really good and one of the dances, a "flirtation" type dance, had two women performing, one dressed as a man with a moustache pencilled on her face. The woman that they had introducing each dance did not speak Spanish so her pronounciation was all over the map. It annoyed me so i walked back to the tents where the exhibitions/vendors were to have a look. Very nice things, most of it for sale of course. At the back of the two long tents i saw...... the barbeques! Doh! After i'd already eaten! I walked around a bit more, went to see if there were any other dancers on stage, (there weren't, the Latin America ones were still faffing about) and decided i'd had enough. Shame really, because i've seen some wonderful performers in the past.
As i was handy and as it was free entry on Canada Day, i went to the Pier 21 immigration museum. Halifax was the arrival point for immigrants to Canada between 1928 and 1971. They arrived by ship and dispersed across the country by rail from there. The complex contained an arrivals hall, luggage hall, rail ticket and waiting area, and also things like interview rooms, a place to have someone's general health checked out, etc. During the war, the troop ships left from this pier and after the war, ships bringing the War Brides started arriving. Immigrants arrived from all over the world. The museum tells the stories of the immigrants and the people that worked there. There are artifacts, recorded stories, and lots of things. The museum is on the waterfront and you can look over the outer harbour from the tall windows. Earlier in the morning they'd had a ceremony to create some new Canadian Citizens. They do that every year.
I was hot and tired and footsore from there so i got the bus home. I had planned to go back out in the evening to listen to some of the free music and see the fireworks but once i got home i basically just wilted. I think i was dehydrated to some extent and did feel better after re-liquifying but i just didn't bother to go out again.
Today was another beautiful day. I had plans to meet with my friend T. and her family to go over to the Halifax Common to see the Mi'kmaq Powwow, called Mawio'mi which means The Gathering. They had a Grand Entrance with lots of different people, all ages, all dressed up in full costume and they danced around a circle for awhile to various songs. There were drummers/singers to the sides who were providing the music. The bands were all announced as their representatives entered. We got there fairly late so we didn't get a chance to get a seat on the bleachers but we squeezed in on one side. Thus, most of those photos tended to be of their backs going in the circle. The music is eerie but rhythmic, notes soaring high above the thrumming of the drums. We watched that for awhile and then I went for a walk with T's little boy who is a very active 7 or 8 i think. We went over by the big teepees set up as a village. They had some demonstrations in them for various crafts like beading and basket weaving. Most of the teepees were just canvas and plain but one was decorated with various paintings. T. caught up with us and we went back to find her fella. We left the boy with him and went for a browse along the vendor craft tents. There were lots of interesting items there, from hand made jewelry to the various implements that the performers and dancers would have for their costumes and performances. ... drums, bells, hoops, furs, headpieces. We saw some change purses and a bag the size of a small backpack made of turtle shells on the outside, with sueded leather behind it.
T. had told me about the Indian "tacos" that she had there last year, said they were really good but when we found the food vendors, the prices were stupidly high, 10 dollars for one! I wasn't paying that no matter how good they were! Back to the performance circle, it was nearly over but we managed to get seats this time. The drummers were right in front of us and performed a number for a "hoop" dance. There were young people dancing on the field with hoops but i never saw them, i was too interested in the drummers. They sit in a circle and pound on the drums and sing... well it's kind of howl really at the top of their voices, but it's amazing stuff. The drumming itself is more or less just a rhythm to keep time with just a few variations.
There are photos and a few videos on Flickr here.
( a few photos behind the cut )
