July 21, 2014 at 3:35 pm
Scene: Chinatown Festival
Thousands showed up to celebrate Chinese culture.
By
Michael Fraiman
324665 Two women eating lamb skewers on the sidelines of Dundas Street West. KabobWomen https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/KabobWomen-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/KabobWomen.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/KabobWomen.jpg 1000 667 {"aperture":8,"camera":"Canon EOS REBEL T2i","created_timestamp":1405878813,"focal_length":"18","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.0025"} https://torontoist.com/2014/07/scene-chinatown-festival/slide/kabobwomen/ kabobwomen 0 0
Two women eating lamb skewers on the sidelines of Dundas Street West.
324670 A traditional sword dance. Swordman https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Swordman-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Swordman.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Swordman.jpg 1000 1500 {"aperture":8,"camera":"Canon EOS REBEL T2i","created_timestamp":1405877980,"focal_length":"60","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.0025"} https://torontoist.com/2014/07/scene-chinatown-festival/slide/swordman/ swordman 0 0
A traditional sword dance.
324669 We're not sure how "Spin the Wheel for Seniors' Awareness" works, but presumably seniors get more than one spin. SeniorsWheel https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/SeniorsWheel-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/SeniorsWheel.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/SeniorsWheel.jpg 1000 667 {"aperture":8,"camera":"Canon EOS REBEL T2i","created_timestamp":1405877471,"focal_length":"50","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.002"} https://torontoist.com/2014/07/scene-chinatown-festival/slide/seniorswheel/ seniorswheel 0 0
We’re not sure how “Spin the Wheel for Seniors’ Awareness” works, but presumably seniors get more than one spin.
324668 This little girl confronted her fear of giant Chinese dragon heads on Sunday, July 20. ScaredGirl https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ScaredGirl-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ScaredGirl.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ScaredGirl.jpg 1000 1500 {"aperture":8,"camera":"Canon EOS REBEL T2i","created_timestamp":1405877313,"focal_length":"50","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.0025"} https://torontoist.com/2014/07/scene-chinatown-festival/slide/scaredgirl/ scaredgirl 0 0
This little girl confronted her fear of giant Chinese dragon heads on Sunday, July 20.
324667 Downtime at the Chinatown Festival. ModernChina https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ModernChina-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ModernChina.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ModernChina.jpg 1000 667 {"aperture":8,"camera":"Canon EOS REBEL T2i","created_timestamp":1405877430,"focal_length":"18","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.002"} https://torontoist.com/2014/07/scene-chinatown-festival/slide/modernchina/ modernchina 0 0
Downtime at the Chinatown Festival.
324666 Who says white men can't jump (around in Chinese dragon dances)? Mask https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Mask-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Mask.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Mask.jpg 1000 1500 {"aperture":8,"camera":"Canon EOS REBEL T2i","created_timestamp":1405877259,"focal_length":"70","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.0025"} https://torontoist.com/2014/07/scene-chinatown-festival/slide/mask/ mask 0 0
Who says white men can’t jump (around in Chinese dragon dances)?
324664 Serving up lamb skewers to a long and hungry line. Kabob https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Kabob-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Kabob.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Kabob.jpg 1000 667 {"aperture":8,"camera":"Canon EOS REBEL T2i","created_timestamp":1405878155,"focal_length":"18","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.0025"} https://torontoist.com/2014/07/scene-chinatown-festival/slide/kabob/ kabob 0 0
Serving up lamb skewers to a long and hungry line.
WHERE: Near Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue
WHEN: Saturday, July 19, to Sunday, July 20
WHAT: Despite two days of rain and streetcar-related construction 50 metres away, Toronto’s 14th annual Chinatown Festival carried on with a vast array of food and traditional Chinese performances. The crowd skewed older; they were delighted to see mid-century Chinese standards performed onstage by a woman in a 1960s-style dress. A walk through the vendors, meanwhile, plainly revealed that it was not Chinese culture alone that was being celebrated—Korean beauty supplies, Spanish churros, Canadian Beaver Tails, Japanese squid, and kettle-popped corn surpassed the small selection of Chinese smoothies and lamb skewers. And even though some booths closed early due to rainfall and low turnout on the first day, the festival still managed to draw tens of thousands of revellers.
Photos by Michael Fraiman.