Harbourfront: Franco-Fete 2011

The sounds of la Belle Province rang out in Harbourfront Centre over the June 24-26, weekend for the Franco-Fete 2011 Festival. Singing, dancing, cooking, magic shows and art, this festival had it all down by the lake.

"One of the most important French language events in Ontario, Franco-Fête celebrates francophone culture with food, art, and "la musique francophone." This year also includes a spotlight on France. For further information visit franco-fete.ca."

I think that this was a big pink pig pinata with gold coins spilling on the floor. I ate one of those gold coins - there was delicious chocolate inside.

One of the best parts for me was the face painting which was being done by, and I should have recognized their work from Buskerfest, was Kromatik from Quebec City. See more of the face painting photos after the jump.

Nestle Ice Cream stand at Harbourfront Centre

Nestle Drumsticks, hmmm good. Setting up the ice cream stand at Harbourfront Centre. The early morning shows the calm before the storm of visitors fill the area. As we head into summer - everyone screams for ice cream!

Bride and Bridesmaids at the foot of Yonge St

A gorgeous group of pretty ladies gathered at the foot of Yonge Street, right beside Captain Johns, to get some wedding photos taken. The beautiful bride was in white and the bridesmaids were pretty in black and everyone held a large bunch of white flowers. I couldn't help but crash the photo setup so I could post some of the pictures. I think the bride was still a little nervous and is it just me or is it Jennifer Love Hewitt! She probably hates the paparazzi.

Toronto Ferry and the Islands

A magical place exists across Toronto's harbour on the Islands that grew up from the sand of the Scarborough Bluffs. The collections of Islands are full of excitement with the Centre Island Centreville Amusement Park, the yachts and other big boats in the marinas and the many beaches (including that clothing optional nude beach known as Hanlan's Point Beach). The Islands are so much fun to roller blade, bike or walk that you forget the fun of riding the ferries that run between the various islands and the City of Toronto Ferry Terminal at Harbourfront's Queens Quay ("half the fun is getting there!). The view of the city's skyline is fabulous.

The ferry service runs from the mainland to Centre Island (in the middle), Hanlan's Point (west) and Ward Island (east) and the adult ticket only costs $6.50 (return included for free!). The ferries run 7 days a week, generally from 30 minutes to an hours between each trip (times are different on the weekends and weekdays). The islands are connected so you can start on one side and travel through to the other side - you can even rent bikes on the islands.

See more pictures after the jump.

Circus, Circus

The HarbourKIDS International Circus Festival continued down at the waterfront presented by Harbourfront Centre and Zero Gravity Circus. Yesterday I saw Circa, today I caught Vague de Cirque as they performed on the Westjet Stage. They put on a great show.

See more photos after the jump.

She wore a beautiful pink dress with a large hoop skirt. She magically pulled things from the air, like the pink umbrella, then she sang and suddenly grew taller. Her long legs were surprisingly hairy.

Later we found out that it was a guy under her dress. A guy wearing little more than leopard underwear and pink boots. Actually only underwear and pink boots.

Madame Butterfly

CP24's George Lagogianes reports from the Circus

Pirates of Queens Quay

Arrggh matey and shiver me timbers - there were pirates down at Queens Quay Terminal, bloodthirsty, dubloon stealing, sword wielding pirates. I was scared that they would start walking kids off the plank but they seemed to be friendlier than regular pirates maybe it was because of the Victoria Day holiday.

The only one that had to be scared was a large chicken because the lil' pirates seemed to be running out of chicken tenders. This pirate celebration was definitely for the kids!

pirates roaming the streets of Toronto

Rain suit doggie

A cute, little dog wears a cute little gold rain suit in PawsWay at Harbourfront and the photo was taken by a cute, little photographer.

Sextet

The rise and fall of the world's economies could be portrayed by Max Streicher's inflatable sculpture called 'Sextet' (1996) at York Quay Centre at Harbourfront. The sculpture is of six completely white human like figures that are each attached to a single air pump by individual tubes which resemble umbilical cords. They gain pressure and stiffen, then they slowly deflate in cycles that only last minutes. My wife thought it was creepy but I thought it was kind of cool.

Toronto International Circus Festival

Children were laughing with delight at all the clowns and entertainment at Harbourfront Centre during the HarbourKIDS: Circus featuring the Toronto International Circus Festival. You can check out Monday's show with Vague de Cirque here.

The site was jam packed with things to do and play including a large room full of Lego blocks and an area where you could dress up as a clown and get your picture taken.

My favourite was the gang from the Australian group Circa which featured 46 circus acts in only 45 minutes. Red nose was an act called 'extreme clown'.

Seeking shelter from the afternoon rain

The clown host

Clowns and stilt walkers wandered the site

See more of Circa after the jump.

jumping the flag

cutting watermelon on the stomach

strong clown carrying the other members