Nuit Blanche 2010 - Toronto

The Nuit Blanche experience this year proved to be a great night. The rain held off and the crowds certainly came out in full force. I don't have a lot of 'culture' in my day to day life so this night is always a very interesting experience. Since I really enjoy photography, I use this night as a way to take photos of some interesting art projects that I wouldn't usually have access to.

We started our night on Bloor st around 8pm and couldn't believe how many people were out already. We walked down Bloor and then hit Yorkville and fueled up with Starbucks. After that, we hopped on the TTC and got out at Yonge and Dundas square. We walked down Yonge, through the crazy crowds all the way to Front St. Now it was about 2am and we decided to take a pit stop at home. We finished the night at the Distillery where the crowd had really thinned out.

After 10 hours, 2 coffees, 1 subway, chinese food and A LOT of walking, here are some photos from the night. To see the full album of photos, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katedw/sets/72157625087824978/

BuskerFest in Toronto

Tonight we went to check out Buskerfest in the St.Lawrence Market neighbourhood in Toronto. There are about 5 different buskers doing shows every hour covering everything from singing to clowns to fire throwing. Most are very entertaining but you have to be there very early or be very tall to see anything. As you can see from the title of my blog I'm not the tallest person out there. If you aren't able to sit on your parents shoulders then forget seeing most of the entertainment. The other issue is the actual 'busking' and asking for money from the crowd.

Since these entertainers aren't paid by the event, they rely on donations after they preform. Several of the shows we watched were very pushy when asking for money and spent a lot of their show talking about it. It kind of ruined the mood, but I guess that is what busking is all about.

There were two parts of the event that really stood out for me. The food and the crazy amount of children on their parents shoulders. I found out that the best view in the house was definitely on someone's shoulders. I think the event organizers should consider building some sort of staging area for them to stand on so they are visible to more than one row of people. I know it would ruin the whole 'street busking' feel but I think once you have corporate sponsors you should consider making the festival a little more friendly for the public. The choices for food were great. Montreal smoked meat sandwiches, gyros, hot dogs, thai food, crepes, fajitas, poutine, corn on the cob, funnel cake and much more. It was like the CNE but without the overpriced cover charge.

More info: http://www.torontobuskerfest.com/

Zorbing

We decided to check out the 'zorbing' at Horseshoe Resort by Barrie, Ontario last week. They were opening their new adventure park on July 1st for Canada so thought it would be a great activity with my nieces. The line up was huge and since it was opening day the organization was horrible in the park. I assume since then things would have improved.

They got the Zorbs from New Zealand where it has been going on for years. Some great You Tube videos if you Google it. Not all of the parts had arrived in time for the grand opening, hence the long lines...

We bought the 'play-all-day' pass and went straight to the zorbs. The line up for a trip down the hill was about 45 minutes but we stuck it out since we had driven all the way there. You get in the giant orb with 1-3 people of any age and they fill it with about a foot of water. They zip it up and push you down a hill. The effect is something like being inside a giant washing machine and you are the clothes. It is a little scary at first but I'm also afraid of roller coasters so I wouldn't take my word for it.

I would recommend going to check it out but go early to avoid afternoon line ups.

Check out the video here:  http://youtu.be/uMom7SmyH70

The Zorb track at Horseshoe