Last weekend, my husband and I went “Folkfesting” with four of our friends. For those not from Saskatoon, Folkfest is an annual multicultural event where each participating ethnic group hosts a pavilion where “visitors will find cultural displays, dance, song, food, folklore, fables and skits” (quoted from the official Saskatoon Folkfest website). For the price of a “passport” (which is the ticket to enter each pavilion as well as a “ticket to ride” the city transit system as you travel from one venue to the next), our group was able to travel around the world without leaving our city!
On our “travels,” we stopped at the Caribbean Pavilion where we were able to enjoy tasty Caribbean Jerk Chicken and Chicken Rotis and “Jamaica-Me-Crazy” rum punch while grooving to the steel-drum band and watching the colorful dancers cavorting on stage. Before leaving the pavilion, we strolled through market place and admired the colorful jewelry, clothing and objects de art. Next, we stopped in the Ukrainian Pavilion and fill our plates with Perogies, Cabbage Rolls, Kubasa sausage, and a bowl of hot Beet Borscht. While we enjoyed our food from Baba’s (Grandma’s) kitchen, we watched the antics of the dancers as they jumped and twirled to the traditional Ukrainian music. We left enough room in our stomachs to have desert at the Greek Pavilion. As we watched a travel video of the beautiful Greek isles and watched the Middle-Eastern dancers perform, we enjoyed sticky-sweet baklava and a shot of ouzo. Opa!
We went out the following night and continued our globe-trotting. Our first stop of the night was the Peruvian Pavilion. As we sat down with our Peruvian food and drink (Tamales and Sangria), an Andean musical group came on stage and played hauntingly beautiful music with pan-pipes and a lute-type of stringed instrument and drums. After the musical performance, we took a look at all the Peruvian crafts and clothing. I bought a whole bunch of finger puppets – everything from a mouse, a donkey, and a tiger to Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman. I said I was buying them for my nieces but I’m not sure if I want to give them up – they’re so darn cute! Our next visit was to the Sudanese Ppavilion. The women at this pavilion were exceptionally beautiful and had a regal posture. We took a quick look at all fine clothing and carvings that were on display and admired a fine black wooden walking stick (with an elephant carved into the handle), then we headed to the Brazilian Pavilion (hey, that rhythms!). Here we had Churrasquinho (which is Brazilian BBQ), Feijoada with Farofa (black beans and sausage), and a Brahma Beer. We were dancing in our seats as we watched the salsa dancers perform and we were impressed by the skills of a soccer player who performed all kinds of tricks with a soccer ball. After bidding farewell to the exciting Brazilians, we headed for the German Pavilion. We immediately went on a surveillance mission to find seats – it was lightly raining and everyone was crowded into the beer tent. Once we had claimed a table, we took turns getting into line for the wonderful German food. We had plates of Schnitzel, potato salad, and the most wonderful Sauerkraut ever! And of course we had the requisite German beer! After singing some German drinking songs and doffing our beer, we bid ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to the German Pavilion and headed for our last stop of the night – the Irish Pavilion. As we walked into the Irish Pavilion, we heard the thrilling sounds of the North Saskatchewan Regimen Pipes and Drums. There is just something spine-tingling about hearing ‘the pipes’! While we were drinking our Irish Coffees, we tapped our feet to the music of the group, Circling Over Shannon. As we finished our in-city travels, we all agreed that Folkfest is the next best thing to actually visiting these countries.
If you and your family have ties to your ethnic origins, why not incorporate some of your cultural traditions into your wedding celebration? There is no better way to infuse your personality into your special day than to add your ethnic customs, food, and music into your wedding festivities. Do your grandparents have a certain recipe that they always make for family occasions? Why not include that special recipe in your menu to share with your guests?
If you want to add a touch of your ethnic customs and culture into your wedding day but aren’t sure what is the best way to go about it, give me a call and I will be happy to help you. Call (306) 244-8482 or email me at info@vivaweddingsandevents.com or vivaweddings@hotmail.com. Oh, and our first meeting together is “on-the-house”!
Thought for the day…
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.
- Jane Howard
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