Festivals

Here is a summary of exhibits, talks and performances that went on during the Luminato Festival in Toronto last week. Sad to see it all come to an end so quickly. But as they say, all good things must come to an end ...

Celebrate Bloor

Keshia Chante at Celebrate Bloor Street Red Carpet event.

Bloor Street was swathed in red - a la red carpet style. The Celebrate Bloor festival stretched for 3 blocks and the highlight included performances by Kesha Chante and Sean Desmond. Not to mention some beautiful luxury cars were on display for people to ogle at. A few of the Bloor/Yorkville restaurants participated offering some fine cuisine for $5 a plate. There were a few give-aways at participating stores and wonderful sidewalk singers. A nice time to spend in the city . The day before, I attended the 1000 Tastes of Toronto which was part of the Luminato festival, where there was oodles to eat all for $5 a plate. Line ups were long and the sun was hot but the food was delish! Can't wait 'til next year. Hope it is just as good!!!

A Ferrari  takes centre stage at the Celebrate Bloor festival

Luminato

Last night was beautiful. The weather was gorgeous. The sky was clear and a concert was about to begin. As part of the Luminato festival, news of a free performance by kd lang was buzzing. The turnout was magnificent (thousands I would imagine). I thought I would have to wait until the end of her hour-long performance to hear my favorite, Hallelujah, but I was pleasantly surprised when she sang it about the fourth song in. Lang also changed things up considerably with a rocakabilly version of her classic hit "Constant Craving".The acoustics on one speaker was a little out of sync with her performance but I am not going to complain -- it was free after all. A real crowd-pleaser to the end, the performance was fantastic.

Keshia Chante and Sean Desmond will be performing tomorrow at the Celebrate Bloor Street festival tomorrow. Can't wait. Oh yeah, there is the Much Music Video Music Awards in the heart of downtown too.

Doors Open In Toronto

Last weekend was Doors Open in Toronto and what a day it was. Over 100 architectural marvels were open in the city for people to roam and explore. There was so little time to see it all though and I got a late start to the day but managed to visit 6 key places.


This was my first stop, Old City Hall. There were no pictures allowed once I got inside but a 10 minute presentation of the court chambers was provided which made up for that. I asked about going up into the tower but alas, that was not allowed.

... I had to settle for a shot outside instead ...

Then I wandered over to City Hall which was right next door ...

 There wasn't much to see here except this ...

                               ... which is kind of funky.


While waiting for a workshop to begin, I went up to the 25th floor. There is an observation deck where I snapped this faint image of the CN tower. I imagine that if there were gargoyles on the tower, it would look really eerie.

                                                    Then I snapped the skyline ...

I rushed back for the 1pm workshop and waited about 20 minutes for the lomography (avant-garde form of photography) workshop to begin. They had gift bags and manual cameras and a roll of film to take some practice shots but time was ticking so aborted this plan and visited Osgoode Hall next door where I took more pics.

                                                           And more pics ...

                                                         And more pics ...

Not far from Osgoode Hall, I went over to the Campbell House where I saw a gorgeous antique writing desk, feather pen, inkwell and beautiful caligraphy.

On my way to the Canada Life Building I knew I would have to move quickly.

 The line was too long and I just remembered that I had gone to the observation deck 3 years ago which has a breathtaking view of the city so all was not lost. I hopped on the train and ended up at the lakefront where the Redpath Sugar Mill is located. And on the way I couldn't resist this boat ...

There was a long line for the Redpath Sugar Mill where there was a video, small museum, tour of the sugar shack and a few free sugar cookies.

This a mountain of sugar not dirt in the distance.

This is the sugar refinery.

I wound up on Front Street where I couldn't resist another photo of the CN Tower in all its glory. The clouds had lifted by the end of the day and my feet were aching but seeing at least three key landmarks during Doors Open was well worth it. The water filtration plant was on my list of things to see but I never made the trek. There is always next year though ...