I don’t think I’ve ever written about Toronto before, despite having been there a few times since beginning my near-constant wanderings five years ago. This time, however, there were a couple of things I wanted to see: the Toronto International Film Festival, regarded as one of the premiere film events in the world of cinema, but also happening on the weekend was the Bloor Street West Ukrainian Festival, which heralds itself as Canada’s largest Ukrainian festival but, really, is a large street festival with Ukrainian entertainment and different ethnic foods. Finally, being in Toronto, I though I’d pop by the Toronto Stock Exchange. If there’s one thing that Toronto has, it’s the financial district of Canada. A lot of companies have their head offices in the city, similar to New York, USA.
Toronto Film Festival (TIFF). Well kudos Toronto for putting on an impressive event. I can’t lie, it’s everything I imagined a big film festival should/would be. That doesn’t come without a bit of criticism, though, as the ticket prices made me wary of simply showing up to just any screening and, moreover, restricted the number of movies I could see. Since festival passes had sold out before the festival had even begun I had to pay full price ($24) or the rush cost ($20). I’m told they just raised prices this year. I’m not surprised, however, given the amount of things going on during the festival.
What began as a simple gathering of friends to showcase the best of world cinema has grown into a preeminent cinematic event complete with world premieres, celebrity visits, and, more importantly, film business. Since TIFF doesn’t give out any awards except the People’s Choice award (which simply entails another screening on the final Sunday), Toronto is a non-competitive event but known for its ability to generate “buzz” about films. All this means is that the festival is a good testing ground for studios to see what audiences like and dislike.
Bloor West Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival (TUF). Heralded as “North America’s Largest Ukrainian Street Festival”, the Toronto Ukrainian Festival occupies about ten blocks in the Bloor West Village area of Toronto and offers near-constant Ukrainian performances and food from the different vendors in the area. And this is where its title comes from: the fact that it is a street festival first and foremost, Ukrainian second.
While at one of the bars near the main stage, I asked one of the other bar mongers about the history of the festival. He told me that the neighbourhood has typically been the haunt of Ukrainian immigrants since they first started coming over earlier in the 20th century. Further, the festival started out very small in one of the parking lots beside a local Ukrainian restaurant and has since grown into the ten-block party it is now. And this is where we diverged. He had never been to other Ukrainian festivals (and I’d be interested in hearing from those who have) but my impression of the festival was that it was a street festival first, Ukrainian second. He disagreed, “there’s a definite Ukrainian flavour to this festival.” Yes, and that was my point.
Aside from the Ukrainian performances on the main stage, the beer gardens selling Lvivske beer (brewed in Western Ukrainian as opposed to other brands of Ukrainian beers that are brewed in the Eastern regions), and a few shops selling Ukrainian memorabilia, walking through the street you got the sense that everyone was welcome to the event and, moreover, that it was a progressive endeavour. By that I mean, and it’s difficult not to compare Toronto’s festival with others across Canada, that Toronto doesn’t restrict itself to 100% Ukrainian. Instead, they welcome vendors and amusements so that there’s something for everybody.
I heard a lot of Ukrainian spoken throughout the day I was there, not just from the babas and didos (grandmothers and grandfathers) but from the younger crowd, too, which goes to show that the Ukrainian language is alive and well. Granted, most of those who spoke Ukrainian were either from Ukraine or part of a Ukrainian organization such as PLAST, a Ukrainian scouting group.
And the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). You’d think I would’ve known this by now but apparently I missed this: the Toronto Stock Exchange was the first exchange in North America to switch from human traders in the “pit” to a completely electronic trading system… in 1997. Wow, way to go Steve. I thought, imagined or maybe hoped there was at least a small group of dedicated traders who held out to trade on the floor like they have in New York but no, there’s no one left. I was kind of surprised by the lack of people even around the TSX headquarters. It was as if there was nothing going on. Here was the financial heart beat of Canada and there were maybe three or four people aware of what was happening in this area: the building security guard who informed me they stopped giving tours years ago, and the two desk clerks who told me all about how the TSX “stage” is really just for ceremonial purposes. Further, the closing bell is rung… but no one’s around for it. Wow. You know that scene in the Wolf of Wall Street where Matthew McChoungy’s character explains that the money on Wall Street isn’t real? Yeah, that became all the more clear seeing the TSX ticket board and the lack of people. In any event, I took a few pictures, visited the Duke of Wellington pub as I have before, then returned for the final bell. And that ended my tour of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
And A Simple Walking Tour. Having accomplished what I set out to do and my budget being tight enough, I wanted to walk through the city’s downtown area to get a better feel for its pulse. My tour took me through Chinatown (where I realized I could’ve bought my entire wardrobe for $50), the Financial District, Ryerson University, and up and down streets such as Spadina, Yonge, and Queen. It wasn’t overly exciting, but taking the time to just walk through was good enough for me. The CN Tower stood tall and proud, overlooking the Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays (who were taking on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays the day I was there.) As Canada’s only city with a major league baseball team you’d think I’d take the opportunity to go to one but… meh, maybe another time. I opted to continue my walking tour and, after a bit of debate, decided I would return to Montreal that night instead of staying another day.
All of this took place over a three-day period. Although I could’ve stayed another few days to look around, I decided it would have to wait for another time. I had to get ready for my next big step: moving to Beijing, China.