The Harbourfront Centre was buzzing with activity over the Victoria Day weekend as families gathered to experience this year’s HarbourKIDS Toronto International Circus Festival.
Are You Gonna Eat That? is a comedy about the joy of cooking (Image courtesy: Harbourfront Centre)
The event, in its 7th year, was co-sponsored by Zero Gravity Circus and is all about exposing young minds to the magic of arts and theatre.
The three-day festival included an impressive display of comedy, acrobatics, puppet shows, dance, and much more.
Children who wanted to try their hand at circus skills were taught some of the basics of aerial silk acrobatics, mini-trampoline, tight rope walking etc.
The afternoon rain on Sunday did not dampen the spirit of the festival and there were a lot of indoor activities and shows to take in.
I was in the mood for some comedy and decided to attend the comedic cooking show about slow food starring actors AJ Demers and Bruce Horak.
The show called Are You Gonna Eat That focuses on how cooking can be a fun experience if done the right way.
The negative health effects of fast food were dealt with in a humorous way through songs played by Bruce Horak on his guitar.
He sang about all the unnecessary chemicals we consume when we take the easy route and buy a frozen pizza instead of making one from scratch.
Chef AJ spoke about how just five simple ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, yeast and oil) can make a good homemade pizza crust.
To prove his point, he made one right in front of us and even got some volunteers from the audience to help out with the mixing, rolling, twirling and of course choosing the toppings. The lucky ones chosen to help out on stage got to keep a chef’s hat for their efforts.
There was also a tasting challenge where volunteers were blindfolded and given samples of certain fruits and vegetables and had to guess which ones they were. The dragon fruit was a tough one!
Chef AJ Demers putting the finishing touches to the pizza (Photography by Donia Varghese)
At the end of the show, audience members were given a slice each of the pizza that was made right before our eyes.
Some of the other interesting shows at the Toronto International Circus Festival included Zero Gravity Circus Bollywood — a fusion of Indian and Western dance accompanied by Hindi songs, an interactive circus show called The Sweet Variety of Circus, and a puppet show about an enthusiastic astronaut called Pig Hadfield who is an expert on astr’oink’onomy.
It was a fun event not just for young kids but for adults as well. In case you missed this year’s event, be sure to check it out the next time the circus comes to Harbourfront Centre.
