| Festival season is in full swing. Summer is a | | | | I talked to a gentleman from the Coro |
| great time to be in Toronto since there are | | | | Folcloristico Italia di Toronto who informed |
| multiple events going on at the same time. I | | | | me that his group has been singing for more |
| had just heard about the "Taste of Little | | | | than 15 years and their repertoire includes |
| Italy" street festival and decided to partake | | | | the whole gamut of Italian folk songs, from |
| of a little free-admission Italo-style | | | | the north to the south. I also had a brief |
| celebration. | | | | chat with Pablo Terry, bandleader and flute |
| | | | player of Sol de Cuba who has been |
| When I got there yesterday at about noon the | | | | brightening up the Toronto music scene for |
| restaurants and bands were still setting up. | | | | the last 11 years. |
| Streets were closed all the way from Euclid | | | | |
| to Shaw and everyone was working feverishly | | | | Across the street was another band playing |
| to prepare for the 3rd and final day of this | | | | Latin Jazz, followed by a group playing |
| year's Taste of Little Italy. All the major | | | | contemporary Italian music. A few steps down |
| bars and restaurants had big screen TVs to | | | | from Terry was the Jeanine Mackie Band who |
| beam the live Brazil-Australia World Cup | | | | got the street cooking with their funk, blues |
| match to a crowd of avid soccer fans. | | | | and R&B tunes. Further east another Italian |
| | | | choir, the Coro Abruzzo, was setting up for |
| At the heart of Little Italy is the CHIN | | | | its performance. |
| Building, headquarters of Toronto's first | | | | |
| multicultural / multilingual radio station, | | | | A street festival always attracts interesting |
| founded by famous Italian-Canadian | | | | people. An older gentleman on a bike |
| entrepreneur and community leader Johnny | | | | decorated with a tiger tail, a green plastic |
| Lombardi. CHIN broadcasts in more than 30 | | | | superhero adorning the handlebar and a |
| languages in Toronto, in more than 18 | | | | tyrannosaurus rex made an appearance. Of |
| languages in Ottawa/Gatineau and is available | | | | course I had to talk to him. He said his name |
| via satellite all across North America. | | | | was Mickey, he's retired now and he figured |
| | | | decorating his bike would be something to do |
| Little Italy is one of Toronto's most popular | | | | in his retirement. From dressed-up dogs to |
| entertainment areas with a great variety of | | | | dogs in baskets on bikes, everyone seemed to |
| Italian restaurants, trattorias, bars and | | | | have a lot of fun. |
| cafés. Other cultures have also made | | | | |
| culinary inroads and you'll find Japanese, | | | | Various entertainment areas were set up for |
| Mexican, Peruvian and Portuguese eateries as | | | | children: young ones were running back and |
| well. | | | | forth inside a very large inflatable train, a |
| | | | soccer challenge was set up and at "Hoop It |
| Since the festival wasn't quite off the | | | | Up" people could test their basketball |
| ground yet I decided to treat myself to a | | | | skills. Various games of chance were enticing |
| little lunch and chose a nice window seat at | | | | the crowd to try their luck. |
| "El Bodegon", one of Toronto's foremost Latin | | | | |
| restaurants. Although the menu is dominated | | | | Low-cost shiatsu massages were available and |
| by meat and seafood, I opted for a light | | | | henna tattoos could also be obtained. Many of |
| meal, combining a savoury avocado salad with | | | | the local stores participated in the festival |
| fried plantains, one of my favourite | | | | by providing special sale-priced items on the |
| vegetables. I had a perfect view from my | | | | street. |
| little table by the window and caught a | | | | |
| glimpse of two celebrities making a brief | | | | The Nicorette girls, dressed in devilish red |
| appearance: Jack Layton, federal NDP leader, | | | | dresses, adorned with diabolic tails, were |
| and Olivia Chow, now a federal Member of | | | | handing out free stop-smoking chewing gum, |
| Parliament. Toronto's foremost political | | | | trying to entice the smokers to give up their |
| power couple, made an appearance on their | | | | filthy habit. |
| bikes at the street festival. | | | | |
| | | | More freebies were to be had in the form of |
| At about 1:30 pm the music started to get | | | | "clodhoppers", a truly delicious concoction |
| going and right across from my lunch spot a | | | | of fudge and graham wafer crackers. I have to |
| two-man band started to play Latin rhythms | | | | admit I walked by the Clodhoppers truck four |
| and flamenco. After a very satisfying mid-day | | | | times just to scrounge up another free sample |
| meal I started strolling through the area and | | | | of these delicious sweet treats. Another |
| chatted with a few of the bands. One of the | | | | bunch of people were handing out free taste |
| music groups, Los Imbakayunas, is from Peru | | | | bags of Doritos, containing the new Jalapeno |
| and tours all throughout Eastern Canada | | | | flavour. Later on I bought a pop at Kalendar |
| during the summer months and plays at various | | | | Koffee House and was promptly given a free |
| street festivals and special events. The hot | | | | hot Nutella sandwich. The generosity was |
| Peruvian rhythms and melodic sounds of the | | | | appreciated. |
| pan flute were enchanting the crowds and hips | | | | |
| were started to gently sway. Even a woman in | | | | Freebies were available everywhere, free |
| an electric wheelchair started to dance | | | | music and very reasonably priced food samples |
| exuberantly to the music. | | | | (costing between $1 and $5) made for a great |
| | | | low-cost outing on a hot June weekend. |