When you hold a one-day annual event outdoors, there's always the risk of being rained out. The organizers of last Saturday's BIG on Bloor festival said it would go ahead rain or shine. Rain it did, but the event went on as promised. Fortunately, the weather eventually let up and once it did, the street was full of people.
I was out on Bloor representing CELOS - a non-profit group that concerns itself with public space, especially parks. The organization was formed by Jutta Mason and other residents who were, and still are, active at Dufferin Grove. Last year, CELOS made a historical display featuring old photos of the Bloor-Lansdowne and Bloor-Dufferin areas. We found most of the pictures on the City of Toronto archives website. This year we brought the same photos.
One of the disadvantages of having a table at BIG on Bloor is that you only get to see what is happening near you. This is what I saw from my vantage point between St. Clarens and Emerson:
In the early afternoon I found myself sitting under a tent next to Susan Berman from the Perth Dupont Community Garden while rain poured down and people with umbrellas hurried by. However, when the rain let up a steady stream of people came by to look at the historical photographs. Some who stopped were people who remembered the pictures from last year.
The pictures of the Dufferin racetrack, which was located where the mall is today, attracted the most interest. When I asked people if they knew the mall had once been a racetrack, I got three types of answers: 1 - "Racetrack? Of course, everybody knows that." 2 - "Wow. I heard there had been a racetrack there but this is the first time I've seen pictures." 3 - "Holy cow. I didn't know the mall used to be a racetrack. That's really cool." (Last year, Adrienne Trent, an artist whose family has lived for generations on Havelock, displayed personal photos of the area which also proved very popular.)
The CELOS table was located across the street from the Holy Oak cafe, which has become my favourite place for coffee lately. The day before I overheard one of the owners say he had ordered extra supplies for the festival. When I went over for a coffee on Saturday, the man who served it said business had been steady. When the weather let up, a band set up outside the cafe and attracted an audience.
Our table was on the north side of Bloor in front of the Happy Cup cafe. Two years ago the Kiss Cup, as it was known then, was a hangout for drug dealers, but that has all changed. The current owner, Bing, is a friendly man who keeps the dealers out. I drop in for beer once in a while and never have a problem. The last time I was there a group was playing dominoes. During the festival, two men from the bar came out on the street to play chess. Another regular came to look at our pictures. We talked about our shared memory of when the Dufferin Mall was still the Dufferin Plaza (i.e. a strip mall).
The CELOS table was next to Yasi who owns a popular cafe at Wallace and Campbell. During the breaks in the weather she hosted cooking demonstrations which were popular. Women from the South Asian Women's Centre showed how to make a mango salad. Another demonstration was given by Ronti from the Cafe Stella at St. Clarens and Bloor. At 6, Yasi hosted a free community dinner. At about the same time, I met up at Stella with friends from DIG IN. Unfortunately for us, Ronti had a busy day and was out of food by the time we came. I had to settle for Heineken.
As far as I could tell from my spot on Bloor, the festival as a success despite the weather. Among other things it was a chance to say hello to a lot of my neighbours. That in itself made the event worthwhile.
