Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 at 4:26 pm
East Meets West Festival
After a trip to the City Centre Market (after a few busy weekends and the Fringe, I think I was going through withdrawal), Mack and I walked over to Chinatown to check out the first East Meets West Festival.
We weren’t sure what to expect – the grassroots committee had put together the festival as a means to promote the Chinatown and Little Italy neighbourhoods – but if anything, we were happy that the event seemed to attract locals that perhaps wouldn’t otherwise set foot in the area.
Lion Dance
We arrived just on time for the opening lion dance, and ended up wandering up 97th Street which had been closed to traffic. As Mack noted, the tables were too spread out and sporadic, and there was a definite lack of food vendors (food smells are half the reason outdoor fairs attract crowds). Still, knowing that this is hopefully the first of many such festivals, I’m sure it will be much improved next year.
97th Street
Handmade Felt Cupcakes and Cookies (too cute!)
Zocalo’s Mobile Flower Cart
99 Supermarket’s Outdoor Market
Pretty lanterns outside of Lucky 97 (standing behind my zodiac animal – cheesy, I know)
We didn’t make it all the way down 97th into Little Italy, but we heard there were also festivities to be seen in Giovanni Caboto Park.
In the end, we chowed down on our own version of “east meets west”:
Mack’s jalepeno-cheddar smokie from Fat Franks and my shredded pork sub from Nhon Hoa 2
Mack’s complete photo set is here.
6 Comments
August 22nd, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Loved this festival! Maybe because the area wasn’t crowded
You’re totally right about it being great in attracting people who wouldn’t otherwise venture to the area. We need more liveable and communal spaces and this event really encouraged that, I think! Went to Little Italy for a drink and noticed that it drew people who would probably usually go to Chinatown. I think this city needs some more pedestrian streets, too.
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I agree with you – the festivals that draw people to otherwise untrodden areas are best (Kaleido, or the recent Eastwood Festival are examples). It sounds like we should have made the effort to trek over to Little Italy though!
May 31st, 2010 at 12:14 am
[...] Alberta Avenue’s Kaleido Festival (commemorating their fifth anniversary in 2010) and the East Meets West Festival (put on by Little Italy and Chinatown) are great examples of neighbourhood [...]
August 10th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
[...] excited for the second annual East Meets West Festival on August 27-29, 2010, based in McCauley (we went last year). In addition to celebrating Chinese and Italian cultures, they’ve added an additional day for [...]
September 1st, 2010 at 11:33 pm
[...] East Meets West Festival, put on by the Chinatown and Little Italy Business Association, was a great success. So much so that its 2010 incarnation was expanded from one to three days, with an additional [...]
August 30th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
[...] was our first time at Viva Italia Viva Edmonton, though we’ve taken in the Chinese and African legs of the celebration in past years. It was easily the best part of the festival [...]
Leave a Reply