Posts Tagged ‘chalk chick’

Buskerfest 2014

Yonge Street was closed from College to Queen for the event.

Yonge St. at Dundas, barrier across Yonge St. as it is pedestrians only.  Lots of signs, lots of people,

Yonge Street on the Saturday afternoon of Buskerfest, looking north from Dundas Street

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A man dressed in green is on stilts as he walks up Yonge St.

Hovering above the crowd.

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There were street performers……

 

A group of four people are on stilts but dressed in very long pants.  Two are playing a drum and two are playing shaking instruments.  They are walking down Yonge St.  People are on the sidewalks watching them.   Street performance as part of buskerfest.

towering over the audience as they walk down Yonge Street

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A performer is on a very tall unicycle.  He is juggling lit torches as he slowly goes around in a tight circle.

DyneMike, playing with fire on high

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A street performer is using a diabolo to entertain a crowd of people who are sitting and standing on the sidewalk around him.

This guy, part of Touch2Catch, was amazing to watch. Great diabolo action!

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A performer has been launched into the air.  He is holding a large ring that is on fire.  He is turning himself through the ring while in the air.

more Touch2Catch – jumping through a ring of fire

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One of the street performers from the group Touch2Catch is doing a side flip over a man who is on all fours on the street.

side flip over Dimitri

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A picture of buskerfest is displayed on an electronic billboard.

Samsung was putting tweets and instagram postings with their buskerfest hashtag on the electronic billboard above Yonge & Dundas. At one point I looked up and saw this one. A great photo! She captured an unobscured view of the exact moment the performer from Touch2Catch did a side flip over five people.

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A woman has taken the silver guitar from Silver Elvis and is pretending to play it while hamming it up for the small group of people that are watching.

sharing the limelight with Silver Elvis …. or taking over? All in good fun!

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A woman is having her picture taken with a performer who is dressed in a white dress made of balloons.  She has balloon wings and white feathers in her hair.

Photo op with an angel in white balloons.  Balloon dresses are available from The Twisted Ones

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A street performer is twisting the upper part of his body in order to fit it through a tennis racquet.

What one does in the name of entertainment – putting one’s shoulders through a tennis racquet…. don’t try it at home kids.

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….. music

Musicians onstage, a group of adults standing in front of the stage.  The adults all have drinks in their hands and they are all toasting.  One of the musicians has a stuffed fish in his hand.

A toast to the cod, screeching in at Dundas Square.  The Screeched Inn performed on the stage at Yonge-Dundas Square, their “kitchen party”.

All money raised by performers on the stage at Yonge-Dundas Square went to Epilepsy Toronto.
In addition, Samsung donated $1 to Epilepsy Toronto for every tweet of buskerfest that included the hashtag #samsungsbbf

 

….. sidewalk artists

 

A woman is using chalk to make a large picture of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the sidewalk

ninja turtles taking shape on the sidewalk (artist: the Chalk Chick)

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A chalk drawing of Ariel, the little mermaid in the Disney movie on a sidewalk.  A man's legs are also in the photo.

Ariel, Disney’s little mermaid is on the sidewalk. Another drawing by the Chalk Chick.

 

 

… and curious kids, entertained kids

Some children are watching buskers perform by peeking through a gap in the red and white plastic banners that are the backdrop to the show.

vantage point

 

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A dog, a Great Dane, is standing in front of two women dressed as clowns on pink and white ponies.  The dog has barked at them and they are reacting by making faces and moving back

Some dogs don’t like clowns either. Great Danes have quite the bark!

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A large electronic billboard high above Yonge St.  A picture of one of my buskerfest tweets is being displayed.

a narcissistic moment

With thanks to the Second Cup on Mt. Pleasant where I hung out while putting this blog entry together.

The first Pedestrian Sunday of 2014, Kensington Market, 25th May.

What follows is a collection of sights from that afternoon.

 

A group of young people are walking down the street, away from the camera. Some are walking their bikes and some of the men are topless.

It was a warm day, the warmest day of the year so far. Time to shed the remains of winter and enjoy the sun and the city.

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art and music…..

A young woman is sitting on the sidewalk.  She is creating a picture of one of the characters from the TV show Futurama.

‘chalk chick’ – see more of her work at chalkchick.com

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A man sitting on a stool on the sidewalk, playing a musical instrument

I am not sure what his name is or what kind of instrument he plays.  If anyone knows, please give me a shout!

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Two men on the sidewalk outside Sancis store.  One man is standing and the other is sitting.

guitar players

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food and drink…..

Three women are lined up waiting to be served at a street vendor who is selling food.

one of the many street vendors selling food and drink – BBQ chicken, burgers, fries, sandwiches and coconut sorbet included

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The front of Wandas Pie in the Sky restaurant.  People are sitting at tables and chairs set up outside the restaurant.

enjoying Wanda’s patio

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A number of people are having lunch on a patio.

lunch on the patio!

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A group of young people are sitting onthe curb eating food out of stryofoam containers

street food

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people watching ……

Some people sitting on steps, three women standing in front of a large graffiti face that is wearing large star shaped sun glasses.

In front of big red starry sunglasses.

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People are walking towards the camera, down the street, but between them and the camera is a giant scrabble game that is now finished

giant scrabble!

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A couple with a small dog on a leash are standing by one of the barricades used to keep cars off the street

People with animals ….

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A woman has a large fake red nose and large white frames sunglasses.  She is carrying a green umbrella with a froggie face on it

keeping cool under the froggie

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A woman is sitting at a table, under a patio umbrella.  Behind her is a large graffiti piece of a young woman's face

two women, one larger than life

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A woman is looking at her phone as she waits behind a table where she is selling denim shorts (on the sidewalk).  In the background a man is buying something at another vendor's table.

‘This Way’ to browsing, buying and selling.

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A pile of large wood blocks are in the middle of the street and a family is building small towers with them - a small girl and boy and their parents.

playing with blocks

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Two women, each with an umbrella open above their heads are standing in the street.

Some people bared their skin to bask in the sun while others wanted more protection

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a man is getting his hair cut outside

under the blade

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….. and the sights of Kensington

 

Detail of messages attached to a telephone pole.  They are written on strips of yellow and blue heavy paper.  In the background is a painting of a large eye, part of the sign above the door of Orbital Arts on Augusta Ave.

A watchful eye from Orbital Arts looks over Augusta Ave.

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At an intersection, lots of people are walking on the street.  Across the intersection is a three story burgundy colored brick building with a shop, and awning, on the ground floor.   There are murals of faces on the upper level of the outside wall along with the words 'Welcome to Kensington, Romeos'

crowded streets mid-afternoon outside Romeo’s

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a man stands in the doorway of a shop that has towels in the window and a lot of things for sale on a table outside the shop

Captain America and the Hulk lurk outside a store.

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street scene of the intersection of Kensington and Dundas West.  There are people walking on the sidewalk past a boarded up shop.

the corner of Kensington and Dundas West

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A man is sitting on a fence reading a book.  There are books on the ground in front of him that are for sale.  There are also some shirts on hangers that are for sale.

a quiet corner to read on

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little people stuck to the wall, sticker street art on Kensington

little people stuck to the wall, sticker street art on Kensington

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