One-Tank Trip for
May 9/15
By Jim Fox
Shiver me timbers –
pirates are going invade Toronto’s waterfront later this month.
As well, the circus
performers are coming to Harbourfront and puppets will perform in Stratford.
Arrr,
landlubbers needn’t worry but head out with the kids to have their picture
taken with the motley crew.
 |
| Swashbuckling pirates are preparing to invade Toronto’s waterfront. |
Kids
can hop aboard an inflatable bouncy pirate ship for a day of
fun during Gangways Open presented by the Waterfront Business Improvement Area (BIA)
on May 23 and 24 from noon until 5 p.m.
It’s part of Doors
Open Toronto that includes free boat rides, guided deck tours of ships and a
chance to see the William Lyon Mackenzie fire boat in action.
Waterfront fun
Visitors can “see
and experience the excitement of the waterfront,” said Carol Jolly, BIA
executive director.
They can tour the
numerous ships docked along the water’s edge and “encounter swashbuckling
pirates as they make their way along Toronto’s waterfront sharing their loot,”
she added.
The huge pirate
ship is lots of bouncy fun with a slide into the belly of the vessel.
Harbourfront Centre
Sailing & Powerboating will offer free boat rides along with discount
rentals of canoes and paddleboats on the Natrel Pond.
 |
| Visitors can tour ships including the Great Lakes Schooner Company’s Obsession III at Gangways Open. |
Twelve of the
waterfront’s most distinctive ships will be open for free tours showing the
rich history of the popular charter boat business.
Visit ships from
the Great Lakes Schooner Company (Challenge and Obsession III); Empress of
Canada; Mariposa Cruises (Captain Matthew Flinders, Klancy II, Northern Spirit,
Oriole, Rosemary and Showboat); Nautical Adventures (Empire Sandy); and Toronto
Brigantine Tall Ships (Pathfinder and Playfair), said publicist Peter Ashworth.
Visitors can meet firefighters and tour the Toronto
Fire & Marine Station where there will be activities for children and
rescue demonstrations.
That’s where the
William Lyon Mackenzie fireboat, built in 1964 by Russel Brothers Shipyard in
Owen Sound, is stationed.
 |
| The William Lyon Mackenzie fire boat will put on a show in Toronto. |
It provides marine
fire protection, search and rescue on Lake Ontario, as well as ice-breaking
capabilities for Toronto’s ferries and the islands.
At the Toronto
Police Marine Unit, visitors can see the fleet used in rescue and response calls
on the waterways.
Inside the
nine-slip boathouse is a 1939 Taylorcraft mahogany vessel, once used by the
Toronto Harbour Police, that now transports dignitaries during special
occasions.
For more
information: waterfrontbia.com;
(416) 596-9821
Doors Open Toronto
offers “free and rare access” to 155 architecturally, historically, culturally
and socially significant buildings, and walking tours. toronto.ca/doorsopen
Castle
getaway
In conjuction with
the weekend activities, the Westin Harbour Castle hotel has a family-getaway
package.
The waterfront
hotel package includes overnight accommodations for family of four (two double
beds), breakfasts, valet parking and a Westin Kids Club amenity.
Rates are from $214
a room for arrivals from May 21 to 23. westinharbourcastletoronto.com;
1-866-716-8101
Step right up
Hurry, hurry, Harbourfront
Centre presents the free “fascinating, freaky” Toronto International Circus
Festival from May 16 to 18.
Co-produced with
Zero Gravity Circus, it “promises the fascinating spectacle of the circus for
those curious enough to venture through,” said Allison Cummings, festival
programmer.
 |
| The circus is coming to town at Harbourfront in Toronto. |
“This year we
really wanted to celebrate all aspects of circus culture and inspire kids to
really feel they’ve run away with us to the circus,” she added.
From the traditional
to the strange sideshows, there’s the Petless Petting Zoo, Sweet Variety of
Circus on the Stage in the Round and Corpus Dance Projects Camping Royale.
Zero Gravity features
“daring and mesmerizing” circus professionals in aerial acrobatics, comical
antics and high-powered acrobatic dance.
Sideshow Alley has
five contemporary artists while Wow Hoop Vau Vanne Baby Circus from Finland is
for infants 18 months and younger. harbourfrontcentre.com; (416) 973-4600
Stratford puppets
A puppet festival
for families is part of this year’s SpringWorks 2015, Stratford’s indie theatre
and arts festival.
In its fifth season
now through May 17, there are more than 100 events.
 |
| Mike Petersen will put on the Punch and Judy puppet show in Stratford. |
Puppet Festival
Family Weekend on May 16 and 17 has shows, workshops and events at five venues
around town.
Included are the Good
Old-Fashioned Punch and Judy Show by Mike Petersen, highlighting more than 350
years of puppet history.
Others are Squirrel
Stole My Underpants; Pandora’s Box; Sleeping Prince; Arbre and Inukshuk; Mask
Messenger; Loki’s Big Dream; and the Great Red Ball Rescue. springworksfestival.ca
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Jim Fox can be reached at onetanktrips@hotmail.com
For more One-Tank Trips: http://1tanktrips.blogspot.ca
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