Annual International Jazz Festival

 The 'Beaches' section of the (Waterfront trail) is also known as the Martin Goodman trail.  I have previously covered portions of this trail before (see 'Martin Goodman' and 'Ashbridge Bay' in this blog) 

In the summertime, the Toronto beaches come alive with swimmers, sailors, sun-bathers and almost anything else you can think of that can be enjoyed in or near the water.  The Boardwalk runs along Beaches Park, Kew Gardens, Kew Beach, Woodbine Beach to Ashbridges Bay.  Unfortunately, the remaining 50% of the Beaches trail is all on-road. (approximately between Kingston and Silverbirch Avenue to Kingston and Birchmount in the east). 

Sunday July 29th, 2012 marked the last day of Toronto's 24th International Beaches Jazz Festival. I thought I’d include this as it was an important event in Exploring Toronto.  It ran from July 20th until the 29th, and had over 100 bands some old, some new who had their own flavour of Jazz.   

Around noon time, Kew Beach stage blasted out with an upbeat Romanian-Gypsy style of jazz music from a group called Lemon Buckets!  I was surprised to hear this kind of music in a jazz festival.  They are considered relatively new to the Jazz world, but they're young, energetic and extremely talented with their instruments!

South of Kew Gardens playing on the The Latin Stage near Woodbine Beach,  was the Latin Jazz Ensemble .  These gentlemen would be considered established.  Their stuff was kinda cool with that Latin-Salsa flair and very relaxing kind of music, but not really my cup of tea as far as music goes! :) Although, it was kind of neat to see a couple get up and dance to it.  

Not too far westward along the Beaches trail past the Kids park and Woodbine Beach swimming pool was the Big Band stage.  Far more dancing was seen here to the sounds of the Big Band era played by an established group called the Jazz Mechanics.  A couple of hours of jazz music is enough, and the day was still young.  Like any annual festival it brings in plenty of money to the hosting cities, and an opportunity for local business to market their wares, and a chance to get their names or products out in the world marketplace.  Even if you didn't get a chance to check out the Festival at all, you can mark your calendars for next year.  Be sure to check out Lemon Buckets, they really are a very unique and fun group!

Where there is any large group of people, there are always police officers standing by in case of any trouble, and being in a large city like Toronto, that's no surprise.  What I am puzzled about is, where does Spock fit into all of this?  Well he had his phaser on him, so guess that made us all safe.

Historic Fort York - Toronto

 In the mood for some historical exploration? Well, this year marks the Bicentennial Commemoration of the War of 1812, and what better place to visit than Historic Fort York in Toronto. The Fort is best to view and photograph on cloudier days. I guess it inspires the somber mood of the reason the fort was built in the first place, however I happened to be there right in the middle of a bright sunny afternoon! So I brought the cloudy day to my pictures, and did the entire album in black and white. I'll put in a few splashes of colour here then! Can you spot him ? I guess now you know why soon camouflage was invented!

But it's hardly the mood to inspire or reflect on the Historical buildings of Fort York of 1812. Lieutenant-governor John Graves Simcoe had ordered Fort York built as well as establishing a naval base in order to control Lake Ontario. He did this because of the scare of an oncoming war from the United States! That's a change, EH? At that time, we were under British rule and when Britain was at war, we were at war. (Of course that all stopped in 1867 when we became Canada). The British at that time became allies with the Native people who were fighting against the Americans to claim territories. So we were called for aid and Toronto was called York then, hence the name Fort York was established.

This year, other cities such as Mississauga, Hamilton, and Niagara Falls have had and will continue to have celebrations and exhibits of the Bi-centennial Commemoration of the war of 1812. Hamilton’s Dundurn Castle was built on the history of the War of 1812, so it's also worth seeing. As well as their Military Museum and Fieldcote Museum have exhibits. There is a world of history within reach.

However, Canada’s largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings and 1813 battle site is right in the centre of downtown Toronto. It’s open all year long. When I was there, they performed a firing drill and the flag lowering demonstration. It was quite the sight and sound to see with all the colors and pageantry of the Fort York Guard.

I actually really want to go back there to take more time to read all the showcases and paraphernalia. It closes at 5:00, and I think it was about 4:20, so not enough time to get all my photos in and read on the history as well. Just another site to see when you are Exploring Toronto!