Hot weather, the Bomber game and going to the cottage are all reasons why there was a small crowd during the first show. Those excuses didn't hold up as the attendance recovered for the second and third show aided in part by bus tours. The second show had two buses that totally almost 100 spectators and the usually sparse third show was boosted by another bus full of seniors from the States.
Highlights and observations from night 6:
- Similar schedule to last night with the exception of Aurora replacing Kaede for dance. Karate performed their final night and Stacey hosted the festivities. I must admit Sumi and I have lucked out with such competent and skilled emcees. It sure makes our jobs easier and with young under-30 hosts (Stacy, Jesse and Marli last year) that can carry the emcee load for future Folklorama's.
- The film crew from Travel Manitoba made their presence felt. A photographer moved from the front of the stage to the back and even on the stage to get some flash close-up shots of Hinode Taiko. It would be interesting to see the footage they shot, but I don't know if we'll ever have a chance to see it.
- The second and final night of the late show karaoke party closed out the evening. There seemed to be more volunteers (and performers) from our Pavilion than actual visitors taking their turn at the mike. Almost like the volunteer party without the free beer, or as Stacey said, "liquid courage".
1 comment:
It was great seeing you and your wife last night. I really liked the edamame and the salad was good as well. I will be looking for a edamame recipe later. Kudos to the kitchen staff.
On one of the dance routines the two ladies used thin stick with small green banners attached. The banners and sticks were so small, they looked like children's versions of something that should be much larger. It seemed odd. Like an adult on stage playing a plastic toy guitar and trying pretend it was a real one (as opposed to air guitar or Rock Band).
I enjoyed the male vocalist. It was good to see the blend of traditional with modern.
The Taiko band was, as usual, excellent.
We were early so we stopped and enjoyed the cultural displays. My favourite were the pictures made by ripping paper. That is tres cool.
We ran into a kendo guy named Justin who looked so familiar it was uncanny. He claimed I looked familiar but we couldn't figure out where we knew each other from. Maybe he gets this all the time and was just trying to be polite.
We had a good time at the pavilion last night. Too bad about the sparse crowds. Changing venues to a different part of the city may bring in a fresh crowd of people who were not willing to try to the other side of town for a pavilion.
I noticed that the Ukraine, Paraguay and Alpine pavilions being so close together made it attractive to visit them all. Drive, park once and visit 3 pavilions at once. It would be great if you could get set up within walking distance of another pavilion.
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