It is becoming something of an annual tradition. The scattered collections of various extended family members show up on our doorstep at some point during the August long weekend. We lather up in sunscreen and bug spray. We pack up some bottled water, cash, and nab a book of transit tickets. And then shortly before lunch we file out to the bus stop just across the street, board the packed shuttle, and make our way down to the land of food and tents and tens of thousand of peoples in Hawrelak Park where the Edmonton Heritage Festival is in full swing.
This year we, again, did exactly that. Derek, Shannon, Sharyl, and all their tag-alongs arrived at our house for what is now the fourth or fifth annual trek to Heritage Days. It was little Nathan’s first, he being a mere six weeks old (though admittedly spending most of the day in a bassinet.)
For those not in the know, Heritage Days is one of those uniquely Canadian celebrations, a result of literally a hundred distinct and vibrant cultural groups coming together for three days of showcasing their heritage, culture, colour, and — of course — food.
This year I was slightly adventurous in my sampling. I tried some jerk chicken from the Caribbean tent, a salted herring sandwich from the Netherlands pavilion, and three kinds of sticky rice.
Even more admirable, my daughter got brave and tried a few things off her standard fare of plain pasta, bread, and ice cream.
Astute readers may recall that last year my adventure at this particular festival was a little more involved. In fact, my Crêpe Escape adventures have generated over a thousand hits as of this writing, a mere one year later. Thanks to my neighbor (who just now, coincidentally, as I was writing this brought me a jar of “leftover” crêpe batter, yum!) I got recruited up with the French society and did a shift flipping French crêpes. This year, coming off a bad cold, I thought I’d take a bullet for public health and not cook for a large festival. Sad, but maybe I’ll try again next year.
All in all it was a good day. The mosquitos were light, the sun wasn’t too warm, the shade was ample, and we had left and were well settled back at home before they (or so we heard) vacated the festival later that evening for a tornado warning.
As usual, you can check out the photos in my gallery.
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