Sunday, February 21, 2010

2010 Olympics: Surrey's Got Soul

THERE IS A TOUCH OF OLYMPIC SPIRIT everywhere in Canada, including in North Surrey where I discovered a well-managed but lively party atmosphere scheduled to continue until Feb. 28th at Holland Park. I was there on Saturday and saw families with their children participating in mini Olympic themes. Big and little faux-snow slides had been set up for kids to zoom down. Skating and curling options were also available. Multiculturalism was in full force and First Nation artifacts were only a piece of the representations to enjoy. Different cultures, tantalizing foods, jugglers, dancers and singers injected colour and spice into the unseasonably warm air. The ever-changing entertainment was toe-tapping fabulous. Most notably, musicians Allez Quest drew passersby in easily with their on stage charm and Franco-Canadian music which can be heard HERE. The Alberta singers and songwriters seemed thrilled at the opportunity to showcase their obvious talents throughout Vancouver and surrounding areas. The Shimmy For the Soul, beautifully costumed belly dancers, came in all shapes and sizes and were, indeed, all lovely ladies who shimmered flawlessly to haunting Eastern rhythms. The famous RCMP Musical Ride (free except for a suggested five dollar donation) was, of course, sold out for the two performances scheduled for that day. Lineups were incredibly loooooooooong for tickets for future performances. Peeking in at their musical ride through the tent they were in, I could see why. Marvelous as they are, my feet and I decided to skip the lineup to catch a luscious sunset in South Surrey before heading home.

Postscript: Links updated 2020

3 comments:

  1. Fun post, Penelope! Great pictures, and enjoyed the links too. Happy energy is just bursting from the seams of this city and as you said, it's everywhere. Yeh for Surrey!

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  2. Too bad about the lineup. The RCMP Musical Ride is amazing. I've only seen it once, just a few years ago, but I'd love to see it again.
    Sounds like North Surrey really got into the Olympic spirit. That's great. Is there anything exciting and Olympian happening in beautiful downtown South Surrey? I often wish I were there.

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  3. Nothing I know of, Kay. It’s back to rain, though, in both North and South Surrey as well as in Vancouver so I don’t know if you’d like too much of that. :))

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