Here's my comparison between St. Patrick's and another Montreal parade, the Carifiesta.
Weather:
St Patrick’s is usually held in cold, often rainy weather.
Carifiesta: hot! And even if it’s rainy who cares, it’s still hot.
The show:
St Patrick’s: Um, if there’s any music I can’t recall it and the stiff-armed riverdancing is no big thrill. There's always some media personalities and politicians if that's your thrill.
Carifiesta: There's no shortage of frenetic dancing and rockin' music ranging from soca to compa to reggae, plus the dancers give it all they gots, rather hard to get bored.
Ethnicity:
St. Patrick’s: celebrates Irish people. Are there Irish people here? Anybody who is Irish in Montreal has been Canadian for about 100 years. Also, as for openness to other cultures, look at 2004’s sad attempt to put a black girl as queen, the Irish openly grumbled and even tossed white paint at her. And it's about 99 to 100% English.
Carifiesta: It’s mostly black folks still pretty thrilled to have been accepted as immigrants and that's a great energy, but there are also plenty of East Indians and every gang seems to have a few white dancers, also there’s no sense of language as there’s English and French groups all in the mix.
Costumes:
St Patrick’s: they have the green hats, so they win in that category.
Carifiesta: those green hats aside, this parade wins as every costume struts like a peacock.
Sensual appeal:
St. Patrick’s: relies largely on inebriation to get people to enjoy the occasion.
Carifiesta: babes-a-plenty, an ambulatory eye-candy shop.
Organization:
St. Patrick’s is far better organized, and has tos of sponsors, plus it has Mutsumi. But that asset is a detriment as well as because it's just too damn long.
Carifiesta: you’re never really sure if it’s going to happen, who’s suing who and who’s scamming cash, but it’s punchy and finishes before you get bored.
Danger:
St. Patrick’s: got a kid killed two years ago and ran over a guy’s leg badly in 2000.
Carifiesta: supposedly a guy shot at another guy 12 years ago or something but I’ve brought my kids there every year without any fear or incident.
Although the St. Patrick's parade may simply be an excuse for many to go drinking afterwards, that's probably become true for a lot of parades.
ReplyDeleteThere used to be two rival groups trying to take over the management of the Carifiesta, but apparently the city or some other social organization decided on one over the other. Not sure what the issues were. There had indeed been some violence and drug dealing marring past Carifiestas.
Also, in past Carifiesta's when the parade came to the designated end of its route, some floats ignored it and refused to turn off the blasting music until the police made them do so.
Now can someone reading this blog compare the Carifiesta to Toronto's Carabana? How different are they, and can one be considered "better" perhaps?
I agree, I enjoy Carifesta more...friendlier less stuck-up people, more of a feeling of inclusion, learning of others' cultures. Plus the weather...and girls dressed (or undressed more like it) appropriately for such.
ReplyDeleteHow come Toronto's is so much better?
ReplyDeleteTiday's St Pats parade took place in summery weather.
ReplyDeleteWas long: took 2 and 1/2 half hours at the starting gate (Ste Catherine and Fort).
You could worship the float of the corporate giant of your choice: CTV, Desjardins, etc. Pipe bands, bugle bands, steel bands, schools, churches, Poles, Ukrainians, TV stations,m radio stations, Irish dance schools, scuba diving schools; everyone got into the act.
The generalisations of the St Pat's parade are those of someone who is making assumptions based on a large dose of utter ignorance. Pathetic, cynical & bigoted. Usually love the blog but the attack was unnecessary and uncalled for.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't we like both events anyway?
he was comparing them, that's his personal opinion.
ReplyDeletePersonally, i prefer carifiesta. The warm weather this year was rather unusual and I've found St Pats to be mostly freezing on a street corner and then drinking overpriced booze at some overcrowded joint. I much prefer the sultry summer atmosphere of Carifiesta! I also prefer the music, not big on the whole Riverdance thing.
Comparisons are odious!!
ReplyDeleteWell you couldn't of had a more hot sunny day without humidity as this year's St. Pat's parade. It can't be beat and there's no danger of anyone shooting off a gun at the Irish parade. There must have been at least 500,000 at this year's parade.
ReplyDeleteCarifesta, because black people are much better-looking than whites, and when you smile at them on the street, they smile back at you.
ReplyDeleteOne of our customers is a member of a re-enactment brigade- where guys dress up in 18th century military uniforms, and "re-fight" historical battles. My guy is a drill sergeant or somesuch. For a few years he ordered his marching troop on parade to stop in front of the shop, shoulder arms, and fire a "salute to the comic-book store". That was shut down by the cops for maybe ten years because some local residents complained about the noise.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I wasn't in the store this year, but I've been informed that we got our "salute" back for St.Patrick's. I guess Montrealers are no longer unnerved by the sound of massed gunfire or something. As long as they're not actually firing at anything, it's cool with me. Anyone ever lift a brown bess musket? Those things are heavy, and these guys carry them around for miles, just for fun
About firing guns on public occasions: how many know that the Champ de Mars was originally a military training and parade field used by various armies throughout our history.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, in recent years I remember it still being used for those purposes during certain Canadian military exhibitions.
Another fact: Champs de Mars is where Montreal's first outdoor electric lights were installed.
Hey, Legend?
ReplyDeleteChamp de Mars, sure. I seem to recall reading somewhere (probably Collard's "Days that are no More" column) that Fletcher's Field was used for military drills at one time as well.
Wish I could find out what the deal is with those martello towers on Sherbrooke just at the top of Fort St. Funny, but there seems to be a worldwide registry of martellos, but I can't find anything about those two. Maybe they're how "duFort" got its name- after all, they are forts...
Those two ancient, pointed-roofed stone towers on the property of the Grand Seminaire de Montreal at 2065 Sherbrooke West used to be one of Montreal's most prominent tourist attractions for the simple reason that they are some of the very oldest structures on the island--if not THE oldest. Even vintage editions of Lovell's pocket-sized Street Guide regularly featured photos of them.
ReplyDeleteI too recall reading Collard's article about those towers, and I will try to find it in my archives. In addition to being built as forts, those rather cramped circular towers were even later used as schoolhouses for local Amerindian children.
Not sure why these structures are no longer promoted for tourist visitation, though. Perhaps they have become decrepit in their old age and are not safe to enter, but needless to say, it would be an unacceptable outrage if they were allowed to fall into such disrepair that they would be demolished.
The Martello Tower that HAS been restored, however, is the Tour de Levis brownstone on St. Helen's Island, which I have mentioned elsewhere in this blog, but the City of Montreal Parks Department in its folly has decided to rent it out to paying customers only and not allow the general public inside (as once was the case) to take in the view of the city and surroundings from the observation deck. I suspect that the city is afraid someone might fall down the spiral staircase or try to commit suicide by jumping off the top--just more paranoia in this day and age with the insurance industry no doubt adding to the city's fears! Nonsense, I say! They can easily hire a couple of student guides and some security guards during the summer months.
By the way, the late Gazette columnist Edward Andrew Collard had many of his newspaper articles about Montreal's history published in two excellent books, namely "All Our Yesterdays" (ISBN 0-9692315-1-2), and "Montreal Yesterdays" (ISBN 0-9692315-2-0), certainly available at our larger public libraries. Check them out, and search Google for "Grand Seminaire de Montreal" where some photos of the aforementioned old towers can be seen.
Further to the Grand Seminaire de Montreal stone towers, see:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.mobile.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_de_la_Montagne
http://www.memorablemontreal.com/accessibleQA/en/histoire.php?quartier=12
Urban (if I may be so familiar),
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.
One of my sons has a prof who's into Montreal history, and she did manage the Seminaire connection, but not much more than that. So the mystery is solved, thanks to you. Funny, I remembered the Edgar, but not the Andrew in Collard's name. I once gave copies of his books to one of my sons' teachers at Royal Vale, a Mr.Wilkins, who was also a Montreal history buff. Wonderful things, despite the John Collins illustrations.
So thanks again!