What the Truck?! @ Al Fresco: June 9, 2012

It’s that time of year in Edmonton – because our summer is so short and precious, every weekend is an opportunity to take in something outdoors. Next weekend, the place to do this will be downtown, with numerous events and three festivals colliding on the same day.

Downtown Edmonton Community League is kicking things off at 8:30-11am, with its annual Pancake Breakfast (all proceeds benefit charity). The 4th Street Promenade summer mainstay, the City Market, will be running from 9am-3pm. Midway through at noon, the Pride Parade will wind down 102 Avenue from 108 Street all the way to Churchill Square. And to round off the night from 5-11pm, the 4th Annual Al Fresco Block Party will take over the Promenade from Jasper to 103 Avenue. Expect a wine and spirits tasting tent, extended patios, a great musical line-up, fashion show, and a kids zone.

One of the extended patios in 2011

Mack and I are two of the members of this year’s Al Fresco organizing committee. After attending the festival in 2009, 2010 and 2011, we thought it was time to give back, especially because we now live on the street and love events where neighbours can get to know one another. On the committee, Mack represents our condo (The Century), while I represent the Downtown Edmonton Community League (of which I volunteer as a Board member).

Volunteering for the 2011 DECL Pancake Breakfast

That said, we’re also involved in another capacity – Al Fresco was looking for a different way to feed hungry festival goers. Last year, the food component was expanded by hosting several downtown restaurants on the street – you may remember Tres Carnales in particular, because their Rice Howard Way digs weren’t yet complete at the time.

Tacos to the people!

Given the rise of food trucks in Edmonton over the last year, the committee thought they would be a wonderful addition to the festival. Mack and I might be a bit biased, but we agreed with them.

As a result, our first What the Truck?! extravaganza this year will be taking place in conjunction with the Al Fresco Block Party.

What: What the Truck?! Edmonton’s Food Truck Extravaganza
Where: 104 Street, north of 102 Avenue
When: June 9, 2012
Time: 5-11 p.m.

This will be the largest What the Truck?! we’ve ever organized, with ten of Edmonton’s premier food trucks ready to show the city why street cuisine is here to stay:

Best of all – the trucks will all be donating a portion of the evening’s proceeds to Zebra Child Protection Centre, Al Fresco’s charity of choice this year. A non-profit, community-based organization that improves the lives of children who have suffered abuse, the Zebra Centre is able to provide children and their families with essential social, medical and mental health services and supports.

We will be updating the website with menus on Tuesday – so check back then to whet your appetite. Hope to see you there!

Check out the Facebook event here, and follow us on Twitter! Read more about last year’s What the Truck?! events here and here.

Truck Stops in Old Strathcona: The Kickoff!

The first of five Truck Stops, our mini-What the Truck?! food truck festivals, was held tonight at McIntyre Park in Old Strathcona. Mack and I joked that between these five events and the several larger WTT festivals planned for this summer, we’re bound by the law of numbers to run into a calm, sunny day.

Truck Stop

But thankfully, in spite of the weather, many hearty Edmontonians came out to enjoy food from Drift, Eva Sweet, Fat Franks and Molly’s Eats. Drift and Molly’s even sold out of a few items!

The line-up at Drift

McIntyre Park really is an ideal location for food trucks – there is ample seating, a bit of rain cover in the form of a gazebo, and some grassy space. As with the two What the Truck?! events last year, Mack and I were happy to see that some people brought their children to the event.

McIntyre Park

The Park is also bordered by a busy thoroughfare, with great visibility. I have to say I was secretly hoping some of the drivers in the passing cars might rethink their destination and come check out all of the activity on the street.

Parked curbside!

In many ways, because it was less busy than some of our previous events, Mack and I were actually able to sample from all of the vendors! For example, we are rarely able to visit Drift at their downtown location during the day, so it was great to have the chance to finally try their falafel sandwich with a manageable line to boot!

Drift’s Falafel sandwich (delicious!)

Fries duo from Molly’s Eats (so crispy)

Huevos rancheros from Molly’s Eats (loved the crispy tortillas and the runny egg)

A meal is not complete without a waffle from Eva Sweet

We really want to thank the Old Strathcona Business Association for their help in arranging these Truck Stops. Their enthusiasm and financial support is much appreciated.

With Stephen Liley of the OSBA

But wait, we’re not done yet – there are still four more Truck Stops to go! Join us for more street eats every Thursday from 5-9pm in May. There will be a different line-up of trucks each time, so you’ll never have to have the same meal twice! We’ll be updating the website every Sunday with the list of vendors for the coming Thursday. Hope to see you there!

Check out Mack’s photoset here.

Announcing: Truck Stops in Old Strathcona!

Although Mack and I are stalwart supporters of downtown, we also wanted to spread the food truck festivals to other neighbourhood as well. So we are thrilled to announce a series of Truck Stops (our mini What the Truck?! festivals) that will be taking place in Old Strathcona.

Every Thursday from 5-9 p.m. in May, you’ll be guaranteed great eats at McIntyre Park, where four trucks will be serving up dishes both savoury and sweet.

What: Truck Stop
Where: McIntyre Park, 8303 104 Street
When: May 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31, 2012
Time: 5-9 p.m.

The line up of trucks will change from week to week, but most of the vendors you are familiar with from farmers’ markets, festivals and street side will be represented this month. There will also be a few new trucks who will be debuting at Truck Stop later in the month, including Battista’s Calzones and The Next Act.

On deck this Thursday, May 3: Drift, Eva Sweet, Fat Franks and Molly’s Eats. A menu will be posted on the What the Truck?! website on Wednesday at the latest, so check back for updates.

Thanks to the Old Strathcona Business Association for their support in getting this off the ground!

Hope to see you there!

Check out our What the Truck?! website here, or follow us on Facebook.

Metropolis: A Tough Sell

At the formal reveal of Metropolis back in October 2011, it was clear that this new festival was an ambitious one. Their list of sponsors was long, but necessary given the $1.2 million dollar price tag, with only $215,000 of that amount being covered by civic funds.

Events Edmonton General Manager Giuseppe Albi explains his vision

At the time, Events Edmonton revealed mock-ups of the six pavilions they had planned, snow-white structures stemming from the snow-covered Square. These heated tents would encourage the public to venture out into the cold every weekend from the end of December to mid-February to enjoy programs regardless of the weather. It sounded like Metropolis would have a little bit of everything – a children’s tent, pub, food services, information technology, media – plus a space where the community would have a chance to make their mark on the festival. But what would it look like in reality? Would Edmontonians embrace this new winter event?

Scaffolding

First Impressions

Metropolis had its official debut on New Year’s Eve, one of the busiest days in the downtown Edmonton calendar. Not a bad way to guarantee loads of foot traffic to a new event, but on the downside, we found that the pavilions (now down to four) weren’t able to comfortably accommodate the large crowds. As a result, we felt a little like cattle, being herded in lines from one tent to the next, barely able to take in any of the displays.

That said, the first show in the community pavilion was less than inspiring – a collection of art that could have been mistaken for a holiday gift market.

Night of Artists on December 31

The Taste of Winter pavilion was unfortunately no better. Although most of the restaurants present were independent establishments, with the sheer numbers crowding the aisles, perusing the options and indulging in a meal seemed more like chores than leisurely activities.

Taste of Winter on December 31

Mack and I knew that it wasn’t quite fair to judge the festival on first impressions alone, especially on a day that featured abnormally large crowds. So we made sure to visit periodically over the next seven weekends to see what else Metropolis would have to offer.

Programming

Without a doubt, the biggest criticism of Metropolis has been its lack of programming. Metropolis organizers appeared to rely heavily on partners to program both activity-based children’s and community pavilions, without seeming to provide them with much support.

Children’s pavilion on February 18

For Metropolis to have attracted its desired attendance of over 30,000 visitors every weekend, the programs needed to be interesting and unique. However, the vast majority of activities in the community pavilion had been duplicated elsewhere. The best example of this was the Chinese New Year weekend, where performers shuttled between a stage inside Edmonton City Centre and a smaller one that had been set up in the pavilion on the same afternoon.

Community pavilion on January 21

I can only imagine how difficult it would have been for the partners to have been asked to program an unfamiliar space (particularly challenging for the artists’ collective that first weekend). On the bright side, as the weeks progressed, it seemed that groups were learning how to best use the scaffolding to their advantage.

Scaffolding makes decorating easier

In the end, the biggest hurdle was the pavilion itself – besides the raw, industrial interior, the space was simply an empty hall indistinguishable from a community league, theatre lobby, classroom or any other venue in need of animation.

Handmade Mafia on February 18

The only group that really utilized the potential of the raw space was Firefly Theatre. Aerial specialists, their experimental show Sky Life was reminiscent of last year’s Illuminations with Circus Orange. The audience was asked to move around the tent with the performers in a mostly wordless show, with an interpretation of the ugly duckling fable told through movement and music.

Sky Life

The scaffolding became part of the sky in which personified stars danced and twirled, while the lights helped define the stage for the circus performers.

Acrobats

Metropolis was lucky to have them; we heard that Firefly had to turn people away because the shows were so popular. It was unfortunate in many respects that there were only five performances of Sky Life given it was really the only program that highlighted what Metropolis could be.

Stilt walkers

Metropolis organizers admitted that developing adequate programming would be their priority should the festival continue. Although I agree, I think there are other things that Metropolis could improve upon as well.

Taste of Winter

Although the Taste of Edmonton is far from my favourite festival (for a multitude of reasons), there is no doubt it is a summer tradition for many. So a Taste of Winter seemed like a good idea in principle, trying to build on the familiarity and recognition of a seasoned event.

As mentioned, the first impressions on New Year’s Eve weren’t positive, with attendees packed in like sardines. But even worse was the bleak reality of the following weeks – the crowds vendors had been promised just didn’t materialize.

Taste of Winter on January 7

This was clear the Saturday night we had dinner there – at 7pm, several of the vendors had already shut down for the night, because not a single customer had passed through the doors in the two hours prior. The chicken-egg argument stands – without vendors open for business, would patrons visit? But without customers, how could vendors survive?

The bacon mac and cheese from Molly’s Eats – delicious!

I wouldn’t disagree that Taste of Winter was a good opportunity for food trucks like Molly’s Eats and Eva Sweet to set up shop in the off-season. But the pavilion was essentially just a tented food court, and with a few exceptions, like the programming, there was nothing unique about the food.

Coordination with Ongoing Events

Manning the Downtown Edmonton Community League membership table at the City Market one Saturday in January, we ended up being the de facto information booth because we were situated at the entrance of City Hall. Quite a few people asked us what the hours of Metropolis were – one would only assume that they would try to capture the potential foot traffic from market shoppers, right?

That wasn’t the case – on Saturdays, when the market begins at 10am, Metropolis didn’t open its doors until noon.

Use of Outdoor Space

For a winter festival, Metropolis really didn’t make use of the space surrounding the pavilions. I suppose it wasn’t really their focus, given their already severe lack of programming inside the tents, but it would have better connected the pavilions together, and more importantly, give life to the area.

With visitors shuttered inside the opaque pavilions, a passerby would assume Churchill Square was void of activity. Even small things would have made a difference – skaters performing in front of City Hall for instance (as they did at the kick-off for the WinterCity Symposium), or, as they started to do towards the end of the festival, placing carvers on the Square for the M.A.D.E. snow furniture competition, and inviting ice sculptors to carve right on-site.

WinterCity skaters

Carvers in action on February 11

What’s Next?

It’ll be interesting to see what organizers decide to do next, and what Metropolis might look like should the festival return again. Although I am glad Events Edmonton took a risk, I hope they are able to learn from this initial run and improve in the future.

To T.O.: District Diversity

One of the things I liked most about Toronto was the diversity of neighbourhoods – it was great to be able to take in such a variety of areas even in the short amount of time I was there. I know there were many neighbourhoods I just didn’t get to – I look forward to exploring them on my next visit!

North York

On my first night in Toronto, Amanda and I stayed in her ‘hood of North York for dinner. What blew me away around Yonge Street was just how dense it was (the 2006 Census recorded a population of 635,370 in North York, only about 100,000 less than the entire population of Edmonton in that year).

High rises

With high rises all around us, it was a reminder of the kind of amenities that can bloom around that sort of density. One great example was a complex with a Loblaws on a ground floor, entertainment and shopping above that, and condo towers on top – and all connected to a subway station across the street.

Amenities galore

Unfortunately, it was clear what was the priority means of commuting in that neighbourhood: given the number of storefronts that lined both sides of Yonge Street, there was a dire need for crosswalks in smaller intervals. Instead, we saw innumerable pedestrians jaywalking across the five lane road.

Inhospitable Yonge Street

West Queen West

Although Amanda currently lives in North York, her dream neighbourhood in Toronto is West Queen West. An eclectic mix of boutiques and lofts, I could easily see why she’d want to move here.

Picturesque walk-ups

The Spice Trader, a great little shop

Cookie from Dufflet – tasted like a Reese peanut butter cup!

Harbourfront

On those hot and humid days, there was nothing better than standing out by the lake, taking in the cool breeze.

Feeling refreshed

I didn’t get to do this as often as we would have liked during that week, but I did really enjoy the stroll on the boardwalk we did get to take that night!

Out on the lake

Chinatown

Our trek through Chinatown was brief, and focused – Amanda and I spent most of our time trying to track down something for our Mum.

Gorgeous murals

Yum!

We also didn’t wander past the tourist-driven shops, a shame because I know it would have been a great area to eat our way through.

Couldn’t resist a picture of sushi-bobbleheads

Kensington

Kensington, with its hippie sensibilities, reminded me of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury (though maybe not as rough around the edges). I loved the colourful homes-turned-shops, with wares spilling into their yards and onto the sidewalk. The area actually closes its streets once a week as well for “pedestrian Sundays”.

Charming

Judith Deutsch Park

One of the most rewarding byproducts of exploring a city on foot is the things you end up stumbling upon. Judith Deutsch Park was a fun example of this, a narrow playground we came across on our way from Chinatown to Kensington.

Amanda loves to exercise!

The playground was made up of sturdy metal versions of popular gym equipment – everything from an elliptical to resistance machines.

Whee!

It just seemed so random, but was such a neat interactive little pocket that definitely livened up a dreary strip of pavement.

Distillery District

Historically, the Distillery District dates back to 1832, and represents the largest and best preserved collection of Victorian Industrial Architecture in North America. The area was purchased by developers and re-opened in 2003, offering a mix of cultural and retail experiences, as well as residential options.

Distillery District

Without a doubt the neighbourhood itself is picture-perfect: the area is enclosed, bastion-style, with brick and stone walls. Paired with the cobblestone, pedestrian-friendly streets, it was no surprise when we saw a wedding party traipsing through for photo opportunities. The Distillery has also been home to all sorts of interesting events, including food truck festivals and Toronto’s first Diner en Blanc.

Photo op

They had some interesting outdoor sculptures as well, which nicely juxtaposed the historic backdrop.

Arts market

Straight out of War of the Worlds

It was a great area to browse – an outdoor arts market was set-up, in addition to some funky gift and houseware shops. We especially enjoyed the art on display at Cube Works, all constructed entirely out of Rubik’s cubes.

Shopping

KD!

Only limited by their imagination…

We decided to grab a coffee at Balzac’s, which seemed to be a top-rated café in Toronto. We were puzzled, then, to encounter a sign that warned that no photography was permitted inside the shop. We had to wonder about this policy, especially for a third-wave coffee shop – wouldn’t they want the publicity from coffee addicts posting candid photos taken of their drinks?

Balzac’s

Mack defied the signage and snapped a quick photo of the interior, which was quite striking. The coffee, on the other hand, wasn’t a highlight.

For lunch, we stopped inside Mill Street Brewery, a microbrewery known for their organic lager (it can be found in Edmonton). The restaurant side was comfortable, serving up predictable, but comforting pub classics. Amanda liked her turkey club, and Mack’s beer-battered fish and chips were decent. My chicken pot pie was all right, though I could have done without the side of mushy, thawed peas and lead potatoes.

Mill Street beer

Inside the pub

Turkey club

Chicken pot pie

We stuck around for the free tour inside the small on-site brewery, which is now mostly used for R & D purposes (at that time, for example, they were trying out an Italian rice brew). Our guide reinforced how small they were in comparison to some of the big fish in the industry – what Mill Street produces in a year can be replicated by Labatt in eighteen hours.

Cheers!

Although it was a stunning neighbourhood to visit, I was hoping our food and drink experiences would match the grandeur of our surroundings.

Waterfront Night Market

A festival can be considered a temporary neighbourhood, which is how I thought of the Waterfront Night Market. It was such a serendipitous moment when I wondered aloud to Amanda whether or not Toronto hosted any night markets similar to the one found in Richmond, BC – then promptly stumbled across a poster advertising the Waterfront Night Market taking place that weekend.

As we didn’t have a car, we decided to take the free, advertised “fun bus” from City Hall down to the festival site (which happened to be the parking lot of the downtown T & T Supermarket). Apparently organizers didn’t learn from the previous year when similar problems happened – they again only had three buses, resulting in massive wait times. Although we waited an hour for the promised ride, they did avoid a #funbusfail.

The fun bus, living up to its name

When we reached the festival grounds, it was busy, but not quite as packed as I remember the Richmond equivalent to be.

I’m sure the smoke could have been seen for miles

It was clearly a food market, with merchandise vendors outnumbered ten to one. The hawkers in particular were entertaining, and reminded me of some of the Asian markets my family and I had visited long ago.

Meat on a stick

And though we had dinner not long before, we indulged anyway. To do so, Mack did have to get over the overpowering aroma of both stinky tofu and oyster omelettes though.

The bane of Mack’s existence

Thirst-quenching

The strawberry ice drink I ordered (featuring fruit popping pearls) had the consistency of ice cream!

The tornado potato was unfortunately not crispy

In addition to the vendors, there was a live music stage and an NBA tournament going on – the sights and sounds were almost overwhelming!

I’m happy we made our way to the night market – it was definitely something we wouldn’t have been able to experience at home.

2012 Mill Creek Adventure Walk

On Saturday, Mack and I joined hundreds of other Edmontonians on the Mill Creek Adventure Walk to take advantage of a unseasonably warm January night.

This was the event’s forth incarnation in as many years, but the first that we’ve been able to get to (we’re also embarrassed to admit that this was our first time visiting these trails, period). Though we’d seen photos of some of Mill Creek all decked out, we really didn’t know what to expect.

Welcome!

At the head of the trail stood a warming fire sculpture (the kind that has almost become ubiquitous with outdoor winter events in the city), not a bad place for it given the winds in that particular spot. As we ducked into the tree-sheltered paths, however, the breeze immediately dissipated. To guide the way, organizers had marked the trail with coloured lanterns, a simple but elegant touch – children and adults alike were mesmerized by the patterns they cast onto the snow.

Lanterns

We eventually found our way to the welcome area, festive with a combination of Caribbean beats, dazzling lights and warming fires. We guessed that the heated tents offered an opportunity to craft a lighted walking stick, but the lines deterred us from joining in.

Welcome tent

Let there be light!

The “adventure” portion of the walk started here. The narrative woven for this year’s walk involved the Beavers of the creek rallying around the construction of a new lodge, a move opposed by the Skunks, Ravens and Magpies. In the welcome area, participants were introduced to this conflict by an actor playing the part of one of the groups concerned. It was definitely an intimate setting, as the actors were not equipped with microphones, so we had to strain to hear what was being said (curious that they situated the actor right next to the blaring music speakers). We decided at that point not to partake in the story, but to simply enjoy the other sights the walk had to offer.

Storyboards also helped to tell the story

Some points along the adventure trail were quite narrow, and given we encountered several parties trying to make their way back the same way, it was obvious that clear signs for trail options were needed (the way back, on the elevated, flat embankment was much easier to navigate).

Adventure trail

We encountered two additional story circles along the way, both involving visuals to help set the scene. We found the Eager Beaver particularly entertaining as we passed, as well as the black-caped Raven, purring about “shiny things” and frightening children along the way.

The Really Big Lodge

The last gathering point was bustling with families, and a significant number of dogs (I think people were just waiting for an outdoor opportunity to involve their four-legged member of the family!). There was a snowfort and ice slide that kept the young ones occupied, while we grabbed a cup of hot chocolate to savour.

Edmontonians out in full force

We really enjoyed our walk in the park. We wondered if sans programming (but including heated tents), whether or not people would still come out to enjoy a midnight stroll if the lanterns were left to light the way – if so, it would be a relatively low-cost way to encourage Edmontonians to embrace the outdoors on a more regular basis.

Mack loved the look of the lights on the snow

Kudos to Winter Light and the organizers of the Mill Creek Adventure Walk – it proves that we all just need a reason to be outside!

Up next for Winter Light: Common Ground, “a warm hearted gathering of winter spirit in the inner city” on February 10-11, 2012.

2012 Ice on Whyte

Mack and I braved the cold conditions tonight to take in Ice on Whyte. Had we known in advance exactly how cold it would be (-32 with windchill!), we may have thought better of it, but ignorance is bliss, right? So, with our warmest socks and thermos mugs, we were off.

First, we walked over to the Legislature to check out the special displays north of the river, which celebrate the twinning of our province with Heilongjiang, China.

Legislature grounds

Some signage would have been helpful, both in reaching the festival grounds as well as to guide us to the non-descript entrance. No admission was required for this portion of the event, and in spite of the weather, there were a number of people touring the snow and ice sculptures, and more in the heated tent where the Cygnets were performing on stage.

Heilongjiang Provincial People’s Congress Building and our Legislature (I loved the columns on the congress building)

Pandas!

The Cygnets (we loved the dance party to the side of the tent – with people in full parkas on, of course!)

We knew about the free High Level Bridge Streetcar rides available for festival goers to connect to the main site, but it wasn’t as evident in the signage as the Legislature grounds or where we caught the streetcar at Grandin Station. Although we missed the in-car entertainment for the evening (how cool would that be?!), it was still a neat experience to take the streetcar in the winter, after dark.

It was frosty inside the High Level Streetcar

We departed the streetcar at the Arts Barns, and walked over to the End of Steel Park. We’d never seen the festival so empty before (especially compared with last year), though I’m sure there would have been more patrons during the day.

End of Steel Park

The warming tent was a welcome reprieve from the chill, where hot beverages were being served for a donation. Some were less affected by the cold though – there was a little boy who was happily playing with snow blocks, oblivious to the swirling winds around him.

Pagoda

Dragon

There seemed to be a number of photographers out tonight too, with tripods trying to capture the best shots of the gleaming ice sculptures.

Mack’s favourite

My favourite (you can even see the flower stems in the pot!)

End of Steel Park is noticeably larger than the usual location of the festival, which allowed for a lot more space between sculptures. It also meant a larger ice slide could be accommodated – with four chutes! On fairer days, the line can be quite prohibitive, so we grabbed this opportunity to take a turn down the slide.

Massive slide

Whee!

Thanks to festival organizers for another great event – and a special kudos to the volunteers who staffed the festival, especially on a night like this.

Check out Mack’s photo set here. And if you do head to the festival, make sure to print off the 2-for-1 coupon here first!

Deep Freeze 2012

Mack and I had great intentions to make it out to the Deep Freeze Festival on Saturday night (three words: Bailey’s Ice Bar!), but after a morning of running errands, we ended up taking it easy the rest of the day. This morning, however, we decided it was simply too beautiful outside not to take advantage of it, so off to Alberta Avenue we went.

Jousting

What a difference one year makes – our first time at the festival last year saw us trudging through several feet of snow, in temperatures of –20 with windchill. This year? Clean pavement, sunny skies, and temperatures warm enough to melt the snow and ice sculptures that were on display.

Wagon rides (look at that sky!)

Of course, we weren’t complaining, and neither were the hefty crowds! There were at least double the numbers on the grounds this year, all taking advantage of our unseasonably balmy winter. We saw several people flaunting shorts, and even one man brave enough to sport flip flops!

Mack behind the soon-to-be-liquid bar

Formerly frozen x’s and o’s

I’m not sure if the organizers knew how warm it would be, but their “Surf’s Up: a Snow to Sand Winter Adventure” theme ended up being rather fitting. At the rate some of the displays were melting, we were sure they wouldn’t last another day.

Still at it (Mack liked how patrons could text in votes for their favourite sculptures)

But they did their best to manage the thaw – the ice slide had been decorated with pine trees and dressed with slabs of snow to disguise its rapidly deteriorating structure. And really, the kids didn’t seem to mind – they were having a blast! The skating and curling surfaces also seemed to hold up well, though we didn’t partake in either.

Rinks

Hurry hard!

What I couldn’t resist was Vlad’s Village Pig ($7 for pork on a bun). Roasted on a spit on-site, we were lucky to end up with a fresh piece of pork, carved off the third (and final) pig. Our serving had some of the succulent meat, and quite a bit of the crispy, flavourful skin. Score!

Carving up a storm

A volunteer holds up one of the pig heads (we were told that the snout has qualities in it to prevent illness – haven’t heard that before)

My sandwich!

Based on how packed the Community Hall was, we think this festival might be outgrowing its space – which is a good thing, because Deep Freeze is a gem that we hope more people discover. See you next year!

2011 Festival of Trees

It’s been a few years since I last attended the Festival of Trees, but when May offered me an extra ticket she had been given by her office, it seemed like a good chance to get reacquainted with one of Edmonton’s Christmas traditions.

It would be difficult for most people not to be swayed by the spirit of the season after stepping inside the immaculately decorated halls of the Shaw Conference Centre. Between the music, the lights, and of course, the trees, the room was glowing with the joy of Christmas.

A recyclable tree

One sweet hearth

May and I agreed that attending the festival towards the end of its final day was actually not a bad idea; by that point, most of the crowds had dispersed. It meant we could take our sweet time admiring our favourite trees, revelling in their beauty and detail.

Dissipating crowds

Bringing the outside in

It’s hard to know how veteran contributors come up with new ideas year after year, but it was evident there were some wonderful creativity behind some of the tree themes. Most of my favourites were probably aimed more at children, but what can I say? I’m a kid at heart.

How can you not love Elmo?

Under the Sea

More toys (yep, that’s a Furby you see)

We also noted new-to-us displays of interesting wreaths, including a stunning wreath constructed out of steel ribbons.

May and I also made sure to tour the gingerbread creations (most definitely went above and beyond construction of a “house”). Being a Star Wars fan, I had a soft spot for the Ewok tree hut, but I also had to marvel at the detail in the very aptly named “Have You Any Wool?”, down to the texture of the knit stocking.

“Forest of Endor”

“Have You Any Wool?”

I also loved the comical scene in “A Merry Little Christmas Tree”, created by the Shaw Conference Centre pastry chefs. They definitely had a sense of humour when it came to this particular landing of Santa’s sleigh.

“A Merry Little Christmas Tree”

Thanks again to May for inviting me – it was a great reminder of what I’ve been missing these past few years!

2011 Holiday Light Up on Churchill Square

The annual Holiday Light Up on Churchill Square is something I don’t like to miss, even if the weather is less than conducive for an outdoor event! Mack and I braved the cold to partake in this annual tradition.

Cold!

Earlier in the afternoon though, I trekked down to the Square to pick up some groceries from the City Market. As with the previous two Saturdays, to help tie the Market into the day’s festivities, a third of the vendors were set-up in a tent on Churchill Square.

City Market outdoors

Though I thought this location was a boon to the vendors last year, it was a much different picture then, as it was easily about twenty degrees warmer than it was today. One of the two heaters stopped working an hour in this morning, something that didn’t bode well for those positioned in that half of the tent. Over in City Hall, however, it was very pleasant, with musicians livening up the atmosphere. Many shoppers were asking about which vendors were in the Square, but didn’t seem willing to step outside to explore them firsthand. I wonder if some clear signage with a map of vendors would have been an incentive to do so? Or, because of the weather, simply have allowed all of the vendors to remain inside the Hall?

Later that evening, Mack met up with me and we sipped hot coffee in anticipation of the light-up and fireworks. Closer to 5pm, the crowd swelled to a few hundred – it’s always heartening to see Edmontonians embracing outdoor activities.

Stilt walkers wandered into the crowd

After a few Christmas songs to warm up the crowd, Eskimo cheerleaders and Councillor Jane Batty welcomed Santa Claus himself up on stage (it was pretty amusing when Councillor Batty expressed to Santa that “one or two Councillors” will be receiving coal this Christmas).

On a break from the North Pole

I was a bit disappointed that the organizers opted not to use the giant light switch that they have in the past, but counting down to the light-up itself was still a great time. The 71 foot white spruce, weighing 8000 pounds, had been donated by Millar Western. Decorations included 14,000 LED lights, sparklers and snowglobes, about 4,000 more than last year.

Tree

I look forward to the fireworks spectacle every year, primarily because it is the only show in our city that is timed to music. I wonder if it was the cold that impacted the execution of the fireworks this year, because something delayed them this time around, which meant that they didn’t end up accompanying the music. We still enjoyed them though – fireworks are always a great way to kick off the holiday season!

Fireworks

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The tree will be around to view until early January. Make sure to check it out when you have a chance!

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