PNE Fair 2012

The Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) Fair is held annually for 17 days (starting in August) in Vancouver. Most of the major Canadian cities (except possibly Montréal – correct me if I’m wrong) hold a similar annual fair (or carnival, exhibition – whichever you call it) with performances, exhibits and amusement rides, though they all vary in scale:

– Calgary Stampede – Calgary, early-mid July (100th Anniversary this year!)
– Canadian National Exhibition – Toronto, late August – early September
– Central Canadian Exhibition / Ottawa SuperEX (on hiatus since 2010) – Ottawa, August
– K-Days (renamed from Edmonton Capital Exhibition after the conclusion of this year’s edition) – Edmonton, late July
– Pacific National Exhibition Fair – Vancouver, late August – early September
– Québec Winter Carnival – Québec City, early-mid February (of course there’s no amusement rides given that it’s wintertime but there’ ice slides and games like human table soccer)
– Red River Exhibition – Winnipeg, late June

I visited the Fair on Saturday and for the C$13 spent, it was a big bang for the buck. On that day, there was a free concert by both Colbie Caillat and Gavin DeGraw (who sang about 5 songs each), as well as a daily pyrotechnics-based Pop City performance that was the closing act of the day.

Colbie Caillat and Gavin DeGraw on stage

I’m already hoping that next year’s PNE Fair will feature a strong concert line-up of at least a few notable performers like this year’s. But for now, I’m likely not done with this year’s concerts yet as I’ll probably be heading back to the Fair again this Sunday to catch Lifehouse in performance. And just comparing with other notable “free concert with admission” perfomers at fairs held in other cities this year, we have:

– K’Naan performing at the Calgary Stampede
– Carly Rae Jepsen (of Call Me Maybe fame) at the Calgary Stampede and Red River Exhibition
– Simple Plan at Calgary Stampede and Edmonton Capital Exhibition

Powell Street Festival

Yesterday, I went with JL to the Powell Street Festival which is an annual celebration of Japanese-Canadian art, culture and heritage (and as a matter of fact, the largest such celebration in Canada) .  The festival was held at Oppenheimer Park, where its vicinity (i.e. Powell Street area from Gore Avenue to Jackson Avenue) used to be a thriving Japantown neighbourhood until the internment in 1941 when Japanese Canadians were forcibly evicted from their homes and had their properties confiscated, many of whom eventually settled east of the Rockies or back in Japan and never returned to BC after the World War II.

(Side note: It wasn’t until 1988 that the Japanese Canadian Community received a formal apology from the Canadian government for the injustices suffered during the internment.  I guess it’s better late than never, and I hope that Singapore would one day be able to face up to and acknowledge the injustices suffered by detainees of Operation Spectrum or other politically motivated arrests.)

From a high of 95% prior to 1941, there are now less than half (44% as of 2001) of Japanese Canadians living in BC.  The few remnants of the formerly Japanese-predominant community are the Vancouver Buddhist Church, Vancouver Japanese Language School and the Japanese Hall (of which the latter was the only property returned to the Japanese after the internment), and with the Powell Street area in need of revitalisation, I can’t help but wonder how different this area could have been had the internment not occurred (and for that matter, the Steveston village which had a vibrant Japanese community pre-World War II as well).  The Powell Street area could have become the biggest Japantown in North America since it already had a pretty substantial number of Japanese prior to the internment.  On the other hand, given its relative lack of good accessibility, it could also have turned out to be an area not unlike Vancouver’s Chinatown, which is currently more vibrant than Japantown but nonetheless still in need of revitalisation.  In any case, I guess it’s pointless speculating what might have been as it’s just a pity that the history of injustices cannot be rewritten.

Celebration of Light

I love Vancouver’s summers. It rarely gets above 30 degrees celsius (though it did breach this mark over the weekend that just passed) and more importantly, it’s not humid unlike back in Singapore where I’ll be drenched in sweat after barely 5 minutes out in the sun.  Weather aside, I greatly appreciate the smorgasbord of events taking place throughout the summer.  With street parades, festivals, concerts and outdoor cinemas (just to name a few), there would always be something to occupy a Vancouverite’s time during the gorgeous summer.

(Side note: Someone has kindly compiled an amazing 27-pager list of free (or almost free) events in Metro Vancouver for the month of August 2012 – click here)

Among the plethora of events is the Celebration of Light, an annual international musical fireworks competition widely anticipated by Vancouverites each summer.  I was fortunate enough to have attended all three days of the event, with teams from Vietnam, Brazil and Italy launching their fireworks on 28 July, 1 Aug and 4 Aug respectively (each team requires about 3 days of preparation work which explains the intervals of a few days).  In my opinion, Italy’s display was much better than those of Vietnam and Brazil , as it had the most energetic and vibrant display of fireworks that excellently matched the music rhythm.  At some parts of its display, I felt as if I was in a giant outdoor disco with fireworks resembling strobe lights as they danced to catchy pop tunes.

Team Italy fireworks finale

That said, the Vietnam and Brazil displays were pretty good in general, and they still provided a better experience than the few National Day or New Year’s Eve firework displays I watched quite a while back in Singapore.  After all, given a choice, most, if not all, would gladly take watching a free 25 minutes show from a comfortably seated spot on the English Bay Beach with a clear vantage of the fireworks stage, over jostling with a mass of sweaty people to get to the Padang field before tiptoeing to try to get a prime view of a free 5 minutes display .  

(Side note: I only just realised that Singapore had an international fireworks event “Singapore Fireworks Celebration” starting annually in 2004 before being discontinued in 2008.  Its website suggests that there was to be one to be held in 2010 but for some reason, it didn’t come through.  I guess Singapore Tourism Board probably had different priorities once the 2 money-raking integrated resorts were up and running.)

So, to conclude, thank you Vancouver and the teams from Vietnam, Brazil and Italy for the magnificent spectacle. Also, kudos to the event organisers, volunteers, security personnel (from the Vancouver Police Department and Transit Police) and the bus drivers who helped to ensure that this event ran smoothly and people could get back home safe and sound!