VANCOUVER—A celebration of music, dance and culture highlighted the Davie Day Street Festival in downtown Vancouver last Saturday. Smiling people wandered along the street, happy to see the diversity of the community.
A bridge of green and white balloons was raised welcoming everyone to the festival. Various musicians and groups played on the TD Canada Trust Concert Stage, including the Bruce James Orchestra and sassy singer Kim Kuzma. The crowd naturally danced along to the beat
“This is our 5th Davie Day Street Festival,” said Ingrid Edmunds, Event Producer. “We are celebrating 150 years of dynamic diversity along Davie Street. We have a heritage zone, blacksmith demonstrations, cancan dancers, as well as a pet zone.”
At the heritage zone, some participants were dressed as elegant ladies and courteous gentlemen, their lavish gowns, canes and bowler hats prompting visitors to take photos as souvenirs.
Further down the street, a few big, handsome horses stood quietly by a blacksmith tent. Inside the tent, demonstrators heated, hammered and polished new horseshoes. Visitors were thrilled to watch the blacksmiths at work, especially when they heated the horseshoes in the flames of fire.
“We are heating up the shoes, and making the shoes fastened to fit the feet,” said Steve Dixon, a self-employed blacksmith from Abbotsford. “Horseshoes have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. Horses are shod every six to eight weeks. Their hooves are just like fingernails, constantly growing.”
The horses outside the tent were carriage horses that take tourists around Stanley Park. The blacksmith constructs the horseshoes from mild steel covered with borium, a special hard surfacing to protect the horses’ feet.
An array of delicate artisan crafts, paintings, and free food and drinks kept visitors entertained. Ceroc, a dance organization, offered free “mini” dance lessons to people on the spot. Anyone could take a minute to learn the basic moves of modern jive, a dance similar to salsa.
“We’ve gone to most of the activities, the music, the kids’ things, the street players. It’s all been great,” said Cathy, who attended the festival.
Davie Street is named after A. E. B. Davie, who was premier of BC from 1887-1889. The area of Davie Street is known for its history, 24 hour shops and bars.
“Like in the old days we used to have a porch and sit in front, and people go by,” said Mark, a local. “It is just nice to mingle with people [at the festival] … I have a little kid, he’s three years old. So this is all kind of fun for him, and he can meet other kids.”
Many activities were especially for children, such as the Bobby Loonie Company which presented its Magic and Fun Show to over sixty kids and parents. Some kids went onstage and help the magician with his mysterious tricks.
A 5-feet-long white car replica by the side of the street was not so white anymore after hundreds of kids cheerfully painted pictures and wrote their names on it. Many kids also had fun by jumping an inflated “castle” trampoline set up by Houle Games and Entertainment.
“It’s been a really successful year; we are very pleased with it,” said Edmunds. “The music is really great, and all the responses from the venders and people coming have been quite impressive.”
