In keeping with our plan to attend at least one of Toronto’s many interesting events or festivals once a week throughout the summer, Chris and I went to an outdoor Jazz festival last night.
It was Chris’ birthday yesterday and he loves Jazz music so he suggested we go to the “Mosaic Does Jazz” Jazz in the park festival that’s being held every Wednesday evening from 5 pm until 8 pm at the Coxwell Parkette from July 1st to Sept. 2nd. It’s close to our home and man, was the music ever fantastic!
We saw the Terra Hazelton Quartet and as I said the music was great. The singer had a beautiful bluesy voice just made for singing Jazz songs. She was accompanied by a Jazz guitarist, a bassist and a drummer.
We had thought that the music was to start at 8 pm so we didn’t actually get there until about 7! Oops! We brought a friend from work, our dog and three folding chairs and parked ourselves about 15 feet from the center of the stage.
I didn’t realize that there would be other things going on in the small park, but when we got there we noticed that there were a couple of vendors selling food like hotdogs and hamburgers, a coffee shop, a person doing massage, someone doing therapeutic touch and a jewelry booth with lovely pearl jewelry. I’m sure there were a few other tent booths that I missed.
There was a good crowd. Probably people that lived in or who were shopping in the neighborhood. Lots of kids too. One little girl, maybe a year old, kept trying to climb onto the stage! Oh and our dog barked whenever anyone applauded and that warranted a “woof” from the singer. LOL
Oh and in response to the person that commented on my post “time to stop letting life pass me by” where I first talked about attending a Toronto event once a week …
He said “An event every weekend? Isn’t that kind of overdoing it? Doing nothing can feel like a waste of time, but doing too much can be too.”
My response … well I’ve been sick and on medical leave from work for the last few years. Believe me, I haven’t done too much and I’m sick of it. Toronto is a great city with tons of things to do in the summer (despite the garbage strike stinking up the place!). Believe me, I won’t overdo it as my body won’t let me. Going to a park to watch musicians play won’t overextend me nor will going out for a couple of hours to one of Toronto’s many food festivals. I just want to get out and do things when I’m feeling up to it and as I said summer in Toronto is the perfect time to attend events, try foods that you’ve never tried before and just get out and feel alive.
First of all “A very Happy Birthday” Chris……so how was his day?
Nice way to celebrate Birthday that too with whole family and free of cost….hehe Did you try the hot dogs too?
Happy birthday to Chris…I had no idea Toronto did this.
What a lovely goal. You and your husband (and maybe even the dog?) 😉 will have wonderful memories from these outings. I’m sure you will be glad you attended these festivals and events. Sounds like the perfect Summer Plan to me.
I lived in Toronto a few years back for about two years and I felt the same way. I tried to get out to do as much in the city as I could (and also survived the last garbage strike). I heard that concert announced on Jazz FM91 and thought it sounded like a great time!
very Happy Birthday
happy birthday Chris, wish all the best for you 🙂
Wow! You’ve got a great time celebrating Chris’ birthday. It’s nice to live in a place where you can easily have an access to such interesting activity. It’s great that you got the chance to listen to the Terra Hazelton Quartet. And what’s interesting is that you can just go to the park and listen to jazz music every Wednesday evening. What a fun life you’re living!
Wish I lived in a more populated area, not too much comes around where I am at unless I drive a few hours. Always wanted to visit Toronto, maybe I will get to someday?
Love summer park events like this. We have a lot of them in the Seattle area too and my fav is Movies In The Park in Bellevue. Lots of fun and a great community builder. Hope everyone has a GREAT summer. See you at the park! 🙂
Happy Happy birthday to Chris.
Here in Rio, we have a lot of summer events like this one!
It’s amazing!
Here in Ireland we have a number of pretty good festivals, including 2 very large jazz festivals which take over Cork in the south (population 200,000) and Derry in the north (pop. 100,000) at different times of the year. Both tremendously popular. Where I am, in the centre of the country here in Dublin, we have had a festival for the last 10 years called the Festival of World Cultures or simply the Dun Laoghaire festival, based in Dun laoghaire in south Dublin. Attracted 250,000 people last year, a mega festival.
Unfortunately due to the economic recession it has been axed without further ado. Pity, but as we say here, perhaps an era of austerity will lead to the creation of some really great music. We’ll see…
Hope to make it to Toronto some time to check out your music scene.