By Voice K summer camp (Dea Yu, Sarina Wang, Julia Huang, Wesley Che, Angie Yu, Chloe Che, Charles Gu, and Sharon Mi)
Who loves Greek food? Who doesn’t want to fly to Greece just for that reason? The Taste of the Danforth provides both solutions for those who answer yes! This festival is one of Canada’s biggest street festivals. This year’s festival was the 22nd Taste of the Danforth and was sponsored by Krinos.
On August 8th, 2015, Voice K’s summer camp went to Greek Town, Toronto to attend The Taste of the Danforth. In past years, the festival’s attendance of visitors has reached up to 1.6 million and 23% of attendees have travelled 40 or more kilometres to attend this festival.
“We decided to visit because we are new to Toronto, and we heard it’s a great festival,” said Megan and Kenny, visitors at The Taste of the Danforth. “The Taste of the Danforth is one of the best festivals in all of Toronto all year long. We weren’t going to miss it.”
The Taste of the Danforth started in 1994. The idea for the festival was from the success of the Taste of Chicago. The Taste of the Danforth draws millions of tourists to Toronto and promotes Canada’s tourism.
At The Taste of the Danforth, you can try out different things such as breaking a Guinness world record. Some examples from the Guinness World Records are: Most Penalty Kicks in Eight Hours and Most Olives Eaten in Eight Hours. They chose the most olives eaten in eight hours because Greece is known for their vegetables and olives. They chose the most successful penalty kicks because soccer is Greece’s national sport.
The festival allows you to try out food from small, local restaurants and they are really delicious. The best part is, they are all affordable! The reason being that all the booths are not allowed to sell any single item for more than $5. That’s really good because you can get a stick of meat for $3 and there are some free samples. There are lots of food to eat, such as beef souvlaki, gyros and lemonade.
“In volume wise, we’ve sold three thousand souvlaki sticks and a bunch of other little things here and there,” said Ari, a vendor at the festival.
Have you watched the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks? If so, you will love this activity at the The Taste of the Danforth. This fun booth contains a microphone that alters your voice to sound like one of the chipmunks.
“ Hundreds and thousands of people have smiles on their faces and are representing Canada and Toronto’s multicultural mosaic,” says Howard Lichtman, the marketing director of The Taste of the Danforth. “You see every ethnicity just enjoying the other cultures.”
When the festival started 22 years ago, there were only 5000 attendees. The festival has grown and expanded throughout the years.
“Whether I’ll be performing or not, it’s a great festival to be at. I love the food, I love hearing the music and stage artists,” said Patricia Nesci who is a singer. “I would definitely come back to this festival next year and the years after.”
