As Gwen mentioned on her Being Savvy Vancouver blog, the Surrey Fusion Festival is happening this weekend. This is the sort of thing that appeals to both Gwen and I so we decided to drag the kids down to it too. We made quite an adventure out of it: we took the bus to the Broadway Skytrain station and then rode the Skytrain to the end of the line (King George station). From there it was a short walk to Holland Park, the venue for the festival.
The Fusion Festival is a multicultural festival celebrating the local ethnic diversity. It had many pavilions showcasing food and products from diverse ethnic origins.
In addition, there were four stages set up around the park featuring music and dancing from different cultures.
As you can imagine, there was a lot of South and South-East Asian ethnic groups represented (ie, India, Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia) and China had a big presence too. Did you know that they’re hosting the Summer Olympics this year? >snort< However, there were other groups represented too. The Jamaicans had a surprisingly large presence. The Chieftans are playing there, as is Jully Black.
There were a surprising number of RCMP there too. They were there in typical ‘street’ uniforms, the Red Serge, bike patrols, ATV patrols, and I’m sure they had some plainclothes ones too. I think it was all in the spirit of community outreach, but I bet the number of RCMP was in the dozens.
Gwen and Kayla stopped by one of the pavillions (ok, they were tents) and got some mendhi put on them. WOW, Aidan sure didn’t like that. Every time (yes, *every* time) he saw Gwen’s hand, he broke into tears and told us he didn’t like mud on Mommy’s hand. And she couldn’t touch him with that hand either. Our boy gets some weird ideas sometimes.
By the middle of the afternoon, the boy was beat and cranky so we headed back to Vancouver. Since we were at the start of the Skytrain line, we got some primo seats. In fact, Aidan and I got to sit in the very front of the first Skytrain car, so for the whole ride from King George to Broadway, Aidan sat on my lap and chatted insessantly about the trip and all the things he could see. Given the length of the trip (about 30 km, about 30 mins on the train) and the fact that he got antsy on the ride *to* Surrey, this was priceless. Oh, and that ride to Surrey? Once again Vancouver proves how inconsiderate it is. I mean, hello? A pregnant woman gets on the Skytrain with a toddler in tow and is forced to stand because no one offers her a seat? I was steamed. So freaking typical for this city and its typically self-centred inhabitants.
We also had a cool, chatty bus driver on the trip from Broadway station back to Willow Street. Translink gets a big double-plus good today.
And so does Surrey, for that matter. Surrey knows how to do these things right. The Surrey Children’s Festival is much better than the one in Vancouver, and I can’t imagine the Fusion Festival happening anywhere in Vancouver with the quality, diversity, or price that Surrey had. In Vancouver, it would have cost $30 at the gate and sucked. :)
