Tradition and Innovation in Canada's Festival City

Tradition and Innovation in Canada's Festival City

Edmonton's longest running festival is K-Days.

The festival began in 1879 as a forum for farmers to share ideas and trade goods. Like today's farmers' markets, the event showcased locally produced products including vegetables, grain and livestock. The inaugural exhibition took place on the site that is now the city's historic Fort Edmonton Park.

As the city grew so did the exhibition, reaching 80,000 visitors by 1910. The fair relocated to its current site at Northlands Park, which is a slap shot away from Rexall Place, home of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers. Over the years, organizers added attractions including midway rides and family entertainment to augment the popular agricultural showcase.

Producers gave the fair a facelift in 1964. They renamed the festival Klondike Days as a nod to Edmonton's past as a trading post for prospectors bound for the Northwest Territories during the Gold Rush. The theme was an instant hit, and attendance records grew to over 740,000.

This year, the festival celebrates a new name. Organizers asked Edmontonians to rename the festival, and the people picked K-Days, a nickname locals often used to refer to Klondike Days. Classic events have been brought back this year. People can pan for gold in Klondike Park or enjoy songs performed by Klondike Kate, the festival's iconic ambassador. But K-Days also looks to the future with its varied programming.

Today, music is as much a part of K-Days as the agricultural exhibition.  Expect to catch Colin James and Down with Webster at this year's festival. In addition, K-Days showcases the next generation of talent with the K-Days Talent Search. The talent competition has featured rising stars, including last year's winners Jessy Mosop and Stephen Lecky, who went on to perform at the 2012 Canadian Youth Talent Competition. This year, the format expands to include different acts and older performers.

Organizers say the 'K' in K-Days can mean anything you want, which is fitting since anything can happen at the festival. In 2012, Mark and Kari-Ann Rattray celebrated their wedding day by doing what they did on their first date: they slid down the Kiwanis Giant Slide.

Across the river, a fledgling festival has tuned into the city's love of outdoor music concerts. Shauna de Cartier of Six Shooter Records combined her love of music and wine to create the Interstellar Rodeo.

She had attended Edmonton's popular Folk Music Festival since she was 14 and believed the popularity of the festival meant Edmonton had a huge appetite for great music, and the city could accommodate another outdoor music festival. A song lyric by Veal, one of the bands de Cartier represented, inspired the name of the festival while her love of Americana music shaped the line-up, but as the festival name suggests, she wasn't afraid to pick artists outside the genre.

The Heritage Amphitheatre in William Hawrelak Park played home to some amazing acts during the first festival. Randy Newman and Blue Rodeo were familiar faces, but it also featured some surprise hits such as the Caroline Chocolate Drops, who brought people to their feet after almost every song.

The new finds were not limited to artists either. Festival goers also discovered new wines, courtesy of Gurvinder Bhatia, a wine connoisseur who lent his expertise. He paired wines with artists, looking for the right notes in wines that best characterized the artists' musical personalities. The clever insights into artists and wine were a hit.

He is excited about finding the right wines for this year's performers, which include the Alabama Shakes, Steve Earle and the Dukes, Serena Ryder and John Fullbright. Whatever your musical or wine tastes are, Interstellar Rodeo will have something for you.

A new festival feature, Interstellar All-Stars, invites various artists such as Jim Cuddy, Danny Michel and Quique Escamilla on stage to learn and play each other's songs. This rare chance to watch artists collaborate is a music lover's dream. This isn't Edmonton's first Interstellar Rodeo, and it certainly won't be our last.

K-Days
July 19 - 28, 2013
For more information go to:
www.k-days.com

Interstellar Rodeo
July 26 - 28, 2013
For more information go to:
www.interstellarrodeo.com

Not over the hill but climbing mountains: Seniors travel

Seniors are out there, trying new things, seeing new places and spending up big. They are travelling to exotic locations, immersing themselves in other cultures and looking for opportunities to learn and push personal boundaries. But findings in a research paper about seniors’ travel prepared by MyTravelResearch.com show this group of intrepid travellers is being misrepresented in travel marketing.

Directors of MyTravelResearch.com, Bronwyn White and Carolyn Childs want to get the message out there that seniors are packing their bags several times a year looking for adventure and that marketers need to start taking notice.

“Travel marketing for seniors would appear to be stuck in a time warp. Seniors don’t want to see ‘old people’ with grey hair walking hand in hand along the beach. They want to see themselves scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef or immersing themselves in South American culture – because this is what they are actually doing,” Bronwyn explains.

Research conducted by MyTravelResearch into the seniors’ travel market estimates that 4.4 million Australian seniors are active travellers. More than half of the respondents to the study travelled overseas in the past 12 months. One in five made more than five domestic trips during that period.

“We found seniors have the desire to travel and the time. They also have the discretionary income,” Bronwyn says.

From their research findings MyTravelResearch concluded marketers need to change their approach to win over this cashed-up demographic.

“Seniors are the new young, they have a real spirit of youth and an appetite to travel, learn and try new things. We are finding this a really hard message to get across to travel marketers and the travel industry alike,” Bronwyn explains.

A more realistic photographic representation of seniors would be showing them hiking in Bhutan or sampling the markets of Vietnam. And they write about their trips – tweeting, blogging and posting. They love to share their adventures.

This group of seniors will travel more regularly throughout their life than any other generation before them. To see the world in retirement is a lifestyle priority and it is a global phenomenon.

“Marketers need to throw out the brochures on caravans and shots of grey haired people in comfortable clothes. Seniors are invigorated, sexy and have a zest for life,” Bronwyn suggests.

The research shows seniors present a great opportunity for both the domestic and international travel industry. And it is time for the industry to give seniors what they want.

For further information please visit www.myseniorstravelresearch.com

Trekking in Torres del Paine tops global list

Lonely Planet magazine chose the best multi-day treks from around the world, but without too much altitude and the circuit known as the “W” Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine national park led the global list.



The circuit was selected for its variety of spectacular views and for being one of the best ways through which to discover Chilean Patagonia. This tour won against other iconic circuits including Bathali in Nepal, Milford Track in New Zealand, the Grand Canyon in the United States and the GR20 in France.

Lonely Planet highlights among the high points of the tour the view of the three great towers of granite, which have positioned the park as one of the best natural destinations on the planet, as well as “los cuernos” (The Horns), two giant structures of onyx-colored rock that crown the majestic mountain range of Patagonia.

The Parque Nacional Torres del Paine national park was created in May 1959 and is part of the Sistema Nacional de Áreas Silvestres Protegidas del Estado de Chile (National System of Protected Areas of the State of Chile).

It is a protected area of 242,000 hectares and has been a World Biosphere Reserve since 1978. The classic W is an extensive circuit that makes its way inward into the estate and takes 7 to 10 days of walking, depending on the pace of trekking and weather conditions.

Australian Stinger Myths - Irukandji jellyfish

Did you know?

• Irukandji jellyfish are found around the world and Australia leads the world in pro-active awareness and risk management
• Only 5 people are known to have died from Irukandji over the past 100 years
• If you wear a “stinger-suit” you have over 75% protection
• Wearing a stinger suit also protects you from the sun and it takes longer to burn through it.

Compare this to:

• 300 people killed by road accidents per annum in Queensland alone
• Fatal snake bites in Australia: 1/year
• Australian bee sting deaths 1980-1990: 20
• Australian lightning deaths 1980-1990: 20
• Number of people killed at Disneyland: 9
• American food allergy deaths per year: 150-200

Every summer there are predictions and threats that we are in for the worst stinger season for years. Dr Lisa-Ann Gershwin, a Townsville-based stinger researcher, has once again predicted a bad stinger season for this summer. Emily Smart, marine biologist with the Fantasea Foundation says, “there are a lot of myths and scare-tactics in relation to these tiny marine animals and the Whitsunday Shire Council in unison with other local operators has produced a poster to inform the public about the irunkandji jellyfish, how to protect yourself when in the water and what to do in the case of a sting.”

Sikkim Festival Receives Overwhelming Response in New Delhi

Three day long Sikkim Festival 2013 concludes in Delhi with tremendous note
 
Sikkim Festival records encouraging attendance in metropolitan cities

The three day long Sikkim Festival 2013 held at the national capital, Delhi's popular tourist destination Dilli Haat, attracted a large number of people from many cultural backgrounds, giving them an insight of the rich cultural history and picturesque tourist destinations of the Himalayan state.

The Sikkim festival which began on 7th March had around 10000 enthusiastic visitors on the opening day despite being a working day. The large north east populace living in the national capital participated in the festival in their traditional attire, adding color to the festivities.

Apart from the other stall at the pavilion, the organic farm products stall as well as the handloom and handicrafts stall saw a heavy footfall of interested visitors and buyers. The stakeholders' desks comprising of various adventure tourism associations saw many enthusiastic travelers enquiring about the various adventure sports being offered in the state.

As the beautiful dusk sky made its presence felt, visitors were treated and entertained with a cultural extravagance of folk dances and music. The famous Snow Lion dance, Yak dance and other folk dances delighted the audience.

A video presentation of pilgrimage and tourist destinations such as Siddheshvara Dham, Buddha Park, Samdupste, the famous Changu Lake, Yumthang Valley and Mt Kanchenjunga mesmerized and captivated the audience.

The festival was inaugurated by Mr P.D.Rai, Member of Parliament. In his brief address, he called upon the country to learn more about Sikkim and the North East which have so much to offer in terms of tourism and culture. He highlighted the achievements of Sikkim in the areas of law and order, good governance and innovative practices. He ended by dedicating the Sikkim Festival to the citizens of the country.

The festival was a huge success as it was able to achieve the desired goal of highlighting the sheer beauty and uniqueness of Sikkim to the world.

Santa Caterina, the iconic hotel of Amalfi Coast in Italy

Hotel Santa Caterina in Amalfi boasts a long history of hospitality which dates back to 1904 when the Gambardella family inaugurated it. The long lasting tradition is alive with the heirs who still manage the property and are ready to welcome again their guests for the upcoming season as of March 19, 2013. Over the years Hotel Santa Caterina has housed a large number of celebrities who loved and appreciated this unique location. It ranks among the top hotels of the world and is located just moments away from the historical maritime republic of Amalfi and not far from Positano, forty minutes from Sorrento.

This is a historic landmark which perfectly fits into the breathtaking surroundings: in the beautiful setting of the Amalfi Coast the Hotel Santa Caterina with its landscaped terraces seems to plunge to the Mediterranean Sea. Two elevators are nestled in the rock and allow guests to get down to the seaside as an alternative to a path among citrus groves and lush gardens leading also to a sea-water swimming pool, sunbathing decks, gym, café/bar and open-air restaurant.

At Hotel Santa Caterina glamorous interiors feature Italian antique furniture from the 19th and early 20th centuries together with some contemporary elements and original details from the typical local tradition such as the precious Vietri light blue tiles, hand painted majolica, decorative plaster works, classic whitewashed low vaulted ceilings with pillars at the corners. Colours recall the blue of the sea and the yellow of the lemons which are so widespread in this coastal area which runs from Sorrento to Vietri. Scented lemons, together with herbs and other citrus fruits are also part of the beauty treatment products at the Santa Caterina's SPA.

The Hotel owners are constantly committed to renovation and maintenance of their property, that is why it becomes more and more attractive year after year preserving its enchanting atmosphere.

Flagships of this jewel on the Amalfi Coast are definitely Villa Rosso, an annexe in the park, with two suites and two deluxe rooms; the "Chalet Romeo and Juliet", a perfect suite for honeymooners with a small private garden and heated "infinity" swimming pool; "the Torrino" suite nestled in the hotel botanical garden and the spectacular "Follia Amalfitana" suite with its shell-shaped king size bed and Jacuzzi pool with spectacular view into the bay.

At Hotel Santa Caterina all rooms boast a balcony, terrace or garden with stunning views over the picturesque scenery of the Amalfi coast, some of them are equipped with whirlpool bath.

Hotel Santa Caterina, S.S. Amalfitana, 9  84011 Amalfi (Salerno) Italy
Tel. +39 089 87 10 12  Fax +39 089 87 13 51
Internet www.hotelsantacaterina.it E-mail info@hotelsantacaterina.it

 
 

Cinematic Shore Excursions in Thailand

Sir Christopher Lee and Roger Moore square off on
Khao Phing Kan in 1974's 'The Man with the Golden Gun'

by Roderick Eime
Location Scout: Phang Nga Bay, Thailand

Movie trivia buffs, how many movie locations in Thailand can you visit on a shore excursion from your cruise ship?