Category: festivals

Edmonton Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2009

My sisters and I decided to have attend the last Edmonton Fashion Week show on Thursday, partially because we were curious to see what this year’s incarnation would look like, and partially because of the more convenient south side location (as public transit users, the hangar at Kingsway was not appealing).

My only other taste of Fashion Week was in the fall of 2007, where we scored front-row seats in a tented venue on Churchill Square. The Arts Barns was a marked improvement venue-wise, as we were able to wait inside the lobby to avoid the spring chill. Unfortunately, the doors didn’t open until twenty to 8pm, and given that this was about forty minutes later than advertised, we weren’t impressed. Moreover, line control was sorely lacking, which meant as soon as the doors opened, the haphazard crowd randomly crushed their way inside the theatre. As someone used to the hat-drop efficiency of the Fringe, the front-of-house organization was poor.

Sisters! (I am indeed the least fashionable of the three)

Once inside, we settled in our third-row seats (which, combined with our point-and-shoot camera, explains the quality of the photos below), and admired the lovely transformation of the black-box theatre. I loved the dramatic, lush, red velvet curtains and the two beaded chandeliers hung above the runway. Three projection screens had also been set up at the head of the stage, and during the show, would mediate between images of the name of the designer and a runway camera – I’m still on the fence about the use of multimedia – it was an interesting perspective (and gave it a metropolitan feel), but I wasn’t sure it was entirely necessary.

The show was undoubtedly sold out, but as with the show two years ago, I had to wonder why organizers continued to sell more tickets than seats available. As a patron who paid full price, I would be annoyed at the need to stand, particularly when nothing on the ticket indicated the possibility of limited seating. I suppose their system of selling individual advanced tickets that can be used for any show date might need some retooling.

An unrecognizable CityTV personality (whose name I forget, and for the amount of presence he had, it wasn’t important) and Sandra Sing Fernandes hosted the show. Though Fernandes should be commended for spearheading the fashion festival in Edmonton (and based on the age range of attendees, seems to have helped bubble the city’s excitement about local designers to the surface), it appears to be self-serving for her at times – for example, the cover of the week’s program was a picture of a model wearing one of her designs.

Fernandes and CityTV personality

Whatever tone was established by the setting of the fashion show was destroyed by the opening performance by Kimberly Spears, a country singer. It ensured the audience reminded that the show was firmly ground in a prairie city.

The show as a whole wasn’t bad – Sarah Shell’s 442 McAdam, a collection of bags, got redundant really fast. Nokomis was fairly blasé, in Amanda’s opinion. Serendipity by Kelsey McIntyre, on the other hand, presented a stunning array of dresses, including a few wedding gowns. She definitely got the loudest applause from the audience, and I appreciated that the models incorporated umbrellas into their walk – it played off of the musical selection, Duffy’s “Rain on Your Parade”. Jessica Halabi showed both spring/summer and fall/winter collections, while Joeffer Caoc, presented by My Filosophy had a few sophisticated pieces, albeit some that badly needed steaming.

442 McAdam

Serendipity

Serendipity

Serendipity

Joeffer Caoc (it was a little much that all models finished with My Filosophy shopping bags)

As a whole we enjoyed the evening. Though they have a few things to improve on, I’m sure Edmonton Fashion Week will become one of the city’s festival staples. Fall/winter will run September 17-24, also at the TransAlta Arts Barns.

If you want a bit of fashion to tide you over until then, I suggest you check out my sister’s blog.

Winter Light 2009: Illuminations

After dinner at Hardware Grill, Mack, his parents and I walked over to Churchill Square to take in the last event in Edmonton’s first Winter Light festival. Called “Illuminations”, it was billed to be “a spectacle of light and fire”.

The only other event I attended over the course of the festival was the opening ceremonies (although I have been to Ice on Whyte in past years). Based on the vibrant performances, free food, and bustling crowd out on that cold January night, I really was expecting more from Illuminations.

Beautiful flower installation optimistically ushering in spring (photo by Eclectic Blogs)

Lantern installations, a large bonfire, and drumming in tipis made up the bulk of the “activities”, though to be fair, we didn’t stay long enough to witness the fireworks. Musicians cycled through the makeshift stage on the north side of the Square, but the performances were fairly low-key. We brought our own reusable mugs for lukewarm, I mean, hot chocolate (disappointed that they didn’t continue their bring-your-own-cup mantra), but the event definitely could have benefited from more vendors.

Musicians (photo by Eclectic Blogs)

Bonfire

Floating decorations

 

Me and Mack (photo by Eclectic Blogs)

I largely agree with Mack’s criticisms of Winter Light as a whole – there was just something missing. I’d be interested to see if City Council green lights another year, but at least there’s something to improve on.

You can take a peek at Mack photo set here and Martin’s photo set here.

Winter Light 2009

When I first heard about the new Winter Light Festival, an initiative to make the most of our longest season, I was skeptical about the interest that a cold weather festival would generate. But as more details were released about some of the events that would take place over the ten weeks, I started to get excited – the Fringe started off small, didn’t it?

Churchill Square

Mack and I headed down to Churchill Square this evening for the opening ceremonies. We missed the blessing fire, but wandered through the Square to see what other outdoor fun was to be had. We wandered past a warming tepee, a spiral maze built with mounds of snow, a number of warming stations, and a tent distributing hot chocolate. The latter required that a reusable mug be presented, or else one could be borrowed for $4 – I liked this environmental acknowledgement.

Outside City Hall

As it was –30 with windchill that night, it wasn’t surprising that the most lively place was in fact inside City Hall. Of course, free samples of comfort foods, cooked up by students from the NAIT Culinary Arts program, didn’t hurt matters either.

The samples they distributed were quite generous, and really, it was probably a shame that we had eaten dinner just before. Four items were up for grabs: medley of three perogies with traditional garnishes, chipotle bison chili, Alberta pulled pork slider with slaw, and bannock with local honey. The chili was definitely my favourite (so much so that I went back for seconds) – I loved the sweetness of the corn added to balance out the spiciness. Mack loved the moist and tender pork sliders.

Pork Slider and Bannock

My only disappointment was that disposable plates were used. Though NAIT was likely responsible for the food, the organizers still could have alerted them to the pro-environment ideal, and at least have encouraged people to reuse their plates and cutlery.

We stayed and watched some of the entertainment for a while, including Andrea House and Le Fuzz. Though it was a cold night, I think I expected the attendance to be higher. Understanding that the festival kicked off on a Thursday to make the most of the Friday news cycle, the hours probably made it difficult for families with school-aged children to attend.

City Room festivities

Based on the opening ceremonies, I’m cautiously optimistic about the rest of the schedule. Up next: the Deep Freeze on 118 Avenue, and Ice on Whyte. Go check it out!

Mack’s post on the opening ceremonies is here, while his photo set is here.

October is for Seasonal Activities

  • Curious about the upcoming Citadel season? Check out the Citadel’s Open House on October 4, complete with actor meet-and-greets, videos about this year’s productions, and family-friendly activities.
  • Join the Somali Canadian Cultural Society on October 4 for a family-friendly celebration of Eid at the African Centre (13160 – 127 Street) from 2-6pm.
  • The latest Edmonton Film Society series continues this month with its theme of intrigue and suspense. Check out their weekly line-up here.
  • Every Wednesday until the end of November, enjoy a free noon hour musical concert at McDougall United Church (10025 101 Street).
  • The Edmonton Corn Maze is open every day until the middle of the month, fun for all ages. For those interested in something less tame, look for the Farm of Fear event offered at the end of October.
  • The Edmonton International Lit Festival runs October 16-19.
  • Need an excuse to check out some of the city’s art collections? The Fall Gallery Walk may be just the event you need to get you there, on October 18 & 19.
  • The annual ABC Head Start fundraiser in the form of the Scarecrow Festival runs October 17-19.
  • I missed the Soapathon, but won’t be too sad, as Die-Nasty begins its 20th season on October 20.
  • Kick-off Halloween early with the Deadmonton Horror Film Festival, October 24-26.
  • The Art Gallery of Alberta offers a free lecture once a month in the Atrium in Enterprise Square. This month’s session is scheduled for October 30.
  • There’s tons of great theatre around the city, but if you’re looking for something frightening, look no further than Northern Light Theatre’s annual Urban Tales, October 31 – November 1 (it’s also being webcast live if you can’t make it down to the Third Space).

The Edmonton International Film Festival: “Rachel Getting Married”

The Edmonton International Film Festival, arguably the most accessible festival in Edmonton’s catalogue (“we’re going to…a movie”), began last week, screening independent and light-Hollywood films for nine days. I usually take in at least one fairly mainstream movie per festival, and this year was no different.

We chose Rachel Getting Married, an Anne Hathaway-feature that garnered much praise after it screened earlier this fall at the Toronto International Film Festival. After reading the synopsis, I figured the wedding would be simply a backdrop to the real drama, but in actuality, the ceremony and everything that surrounded it (the rehearsal dinner, the reception) was showcased in full glory. This was both a strength and weakness of the film: while the scenes appeared so emotionally genuine (to the point where I wanted to be invited to be a part of the family), I think Mack was right in saying certain scenes could have used more liberal editing (was listening to a dozen rehearsal dinner speeches necessary? Or watching a lengthy dance floor montage?).

The core of the story, however, focused on Hathaway’s character Kym, a young woman returning home from rehab on the occasion of her sister’s marriage. Over the course of the movie, it is revealed that when Kym was sixteen, while high on drugs, ended up causing an accident that killed her younger brother. Each member of the family coped with this tragedy in a different way – Kym with her addiction, Rachel in studying psychology (an area that allows her to learn about human behavior) and the mother with separation and denial. How each member of the family related to each other was fascinating to watch, and in light of all of the wedding fun, I wished for more moments like the quiet one between Rachel and Kym preparing up for the ceremony.

The shaky camera (and seemingly unnecessary close-ups) had thankfully dissipated for the most part by the end of the movie, but I know Mack was happy when the film was over for this reason. While it’s not a must-see, Rachel Getting Married is an interesting window into a fictional family doing its best to move forward from a past tragedy.

The Film Festival runs until Saturday.

The Big Kahuna: Day 7

My final show at this year’s Fringe was the second of my two wild cards. Big Winner is about one woman’s quest at winning the grand prize in Tim Horton’s Roll-up-the-Rim-to-Win contest, and enlists Jackson, her friend, to help her. Over the course of the play, Jackson uncovers a little-known alternative route to $20,000 in the contest rules – awarded to the person with the most “Try again” cups. Big Winner, besides being a tale of small town (Red Deer of all places) Canadian life, is also a romantic one, as feelings between the two are acknowledged. It was obvious that the two actors were having a blast, but the show just didn’t do it for me. A decent effort with likable characters, but not my cup of coffee.

The Big Kahuna: Day 6

On Tuesday I introduced Mack to the manic energy of Charles Ross, aka the man behind The One Man Star Wars Trilogy. A sold-out crowd, packed into the cooker of a stage at the Strathcona Community League, provided ample enthusiasm to feed Ross’s one and half hour whirlwind tumble through Episodes four through six. There were a few differences between this version and the one I saw five years ago (notably, the “special effects” signifying the explosion of both Death Stars), and Ross this time wore a microphone, wise given the fact that he is performing two different shows this time around (his other, Sev, has nothing to do with a Hollywood film of any kind). Again, though the feat of cycling through the films is a testament to Ross’s personal zeal, much of the enjoyment of the show is provided by his character attributions (“schwing”, Luke’s whiny temperament), impersonations (I had forgotten how much I adore his imitation of R2-D2), and side commentary (“I’ll never work in film again!”). Like it did the first time, the show makes me want to watch all three movies over again. After the applause, Ross took a moment to implore the audience to follow through with any great ideas they may be sitting on. This is something he has done after every performance I have seen, so it was slightly less off-putting and seemingly more genuine to me than I have regarded it in the past.

I’m not sure if tickets are still available to the show, but there are, be sure to snap ‘em up.

On a different note, Fringe festival head Julian Mayne is optimistic about breaking the ceiling of the 77,000 indoor performance ticket sales tallied in 2006. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Also, online ticket purchases are up 20% – definitely good news for Mayne, who took a lot of flack for introducing the system last year. Still, it’s hard to see why everyone who has access to a computer wouldn’t pre-buy their tickets – the “Will Call” line is always shorter and faster at the Central Box Office.

Food at the Fringe

  • Though Starbucks shouldn’t count strictly as food from the Fringe, coffee is such a festival necessity to me that it bears inclusion on that ground alone.

 

My Fringe ritual: Journal reviews and coffee

  • Annie bought a cup of IttiBitz ($3.75) at the Fringe over the weekend. I’d always been intrigued by the tiny rounds of pastel-colored ice cream, but had never tried it myself. Turns out, it is just frozen pellets of ice cream; nothing special at all.

 

Annie with the IttiBitz sign

 

Cookies and Cream IttiBitz (vanilla ice cream pellets and crushed up chocolate cookies)

  • Intrigued by Funky Pickle‘s idea of “Butter Chicken Pizza”, I just had to try it. At $5 for the slice, however, it wasn’t what I was expecting, nor was it worth it. A curry sauce was used in place of the usual tomato base, and though the chicken may have been cooked in a tandoori oven (it was dry as heck), everything else about the pizza was decidedly ordinary. Supposedly created in collaboration with New Asian Village, one would imagine a final product with more flavour and originality behind it.

 

Butter chicken pizza from Funky Pickle

  • The vegetarian samosas (2 for $3.50) from India Palace was definitely the better deal when compared with the pizza – fried to a crisp perfection, they were filled with a lovely concoction of potatoes, peas, and a hint of chili. Carbolicious, they were way more satisfying than the pizza by far.

 

Samosas from India Palace

  • I wouldn’t be surprised if all restaurants in the immediate vicinity of the Fringe grounds had festival-specific menus, but Packrat Louie‘s is the only one I’ve had the personal opportunity to test. They’ve added a few special entrees, including ostrich fan steak, a “Mushroom Steak Fringe”, and a Hawaiian pizza dubbed “The Kahuna”.

 

Fringe-themed menu

 

The Kahuna

Happy eating at the Fringe!

Notes from the Fringe

  • I remember complaints last year about the reduced number of vendor permits distributed; it seems they are back in numbers to spare. The layout, which they usually change every year, is very clean this year. The alley behind the Strathcona library is usually uncomfortably crowded, but this year, pedestrian traffic is alleviated with vendors distributed along with side of the library as well.
  • Unlike last year, the location of the ticket booths is absent from the map in the centre of the program. Because of this, I think many patrons who need to purchase tickets aren’t aware of the “satellite” box offices, and thus the log jam at the Central Box Office during peak times. The Fringe administrators need to do a better job of advertising alternative places to obtain tickets.
  • I love the idea of the Fringe midway. While I haven’t had the time to watch any of the shows, I have walked through several times and just drink up the atmosphere of carney-like hawkers peddling their shows to the public. It’s a wonderful thing, and like being flyered on the grounds, the most honest means for artists to attract audience members to their production.
  • Perhaps I hadn’t paid attention in past years, but the food choices on site (although expensive), seem to be better this year. I had the usual green onion cakes, but am eying the Butter Chicken Pizza from Funky Pickle for later this week.

Two Days to the Fringe!

For those who watch the critics’ every move, the reviews from the Winnipeg Fringe are sometimes a good indication of what will make a splash at Edmonton’s own festival (though again, you never really know what will strike the fancy of a particular reviewer on any given day).

The Winnipeg Free Press lists the following shows (who will be making their way to Edmonton) as top-drawing acts: Die Roten Puntke, Kenneth Brown’s Spiral Dive (awarded 5 stars), The Official Napoleon Dynamite Dance Class, Killing Kevin Spacey, and Keir Cutler’s Teaching the Fringe. On a side note, I loved the theme of their 2008 festival, Viva Las Fringe, and the accompanying “What happens at the Fringe, stays at the Fringe” slogan. Cheesy, but effective. Though new Executive Director Chuck McEwen wanted to surpass Edmonton’s 2007 attendance of 74,963 indoor show tickets, they were short, reaching a paid attendance of 72,699, up 774 from last year’s record of 71,921. If you’re an Edmonton Fringe die-hard, you’re breathing a sign of relief right now.

Some news: the Frequent & Double Fringer passes have sold out. They only made 200 of each available; I seem to remember more being offered in past years, but I could be wrong.

Also, the website lists some schedule changes. Good news for those that missed Charles Ross’s sold-out One Man Star Wars Trilogy three years ago – he’s been given a full slot as a result of a show cancellation. I remember being in the front row at the Legion, watching the sweat just drip off the man’s face – he is a tour de force, and his imitations are spot on. Check out a clip here.

If you’re still not sure what show you’d like to see, the Free for All, an annual event that allows artists 5 minutes to showcase their production, takes place in McIntyre Park from 8-10pm on Thursday, August 14.

See you in Old Strathcona!