Residents flocked to popular destination to enjoy the Redpath festival after pandemic hiatus.
The Redpath Waterfront Festival returned after two years, Sept. 17 and 18.
The city’s residents were able to visit the two festival venues at HTO Park and Sugar Beach from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. both days and enjoy the various entertainment provided.
Kids and adults alike were drawn in by activity booths and the Theodore TOO Tugboat, as well as musical performances on the live music stage, and other captivating activities.
Food trucks, entertainers, and indigenous performers were also part of the festival.
Theodore Too made an appearance at the festival. Photo by: Ayeshwini Lama.
The Canadian Armed Forces also hosted an information booth for young people wishing to learn more about enlisting.
Sri Krishna Rajan, director of communications and internal with the Student Association of George Brown College (SAGBC), shared that the festival gave an opportunity to students to learn about indigenous culture.
“International students have the chance to explore, learn, and engage with the local community through these kinds of events, which are crucial for fostering community cohesion and promoting local culture. It helps individuals to know more about the people, culture, and city,” he said.
There was a lot more to see, try and learn at the festival.
Caron Morgan, who is a waterfront resident, was seen promoting and selling her Jamaican blue mountain coffee brand Birdy’s Daughter at the festival. She shared that it was a great place to promote the brand as well as a message.
“I’m a part of an organization called Jamaican Women in Coffee, and we’re committed to helping women who traditionally do the hardest work in coffee production, in educating them and owning coffee farms of their own,” she said. “This [festival] has afforded me an opportunity to bring something really beautiful from my home country that’s good for people, but also to see how it can do greater good, because the better a woman does, the better we all do.”
Caron Morgan, owner of Birdy’s Daughter, came out to introduce her coffee brand to Waterfront visitors. Photo by: Ayeshwini Lama.
Redpath, a long-standing Canadian food brand and the title sponsor of the festival, had a booth set up as well.
“We’ve been here over 60 years in the community, and we want to be part of the community. We also want to share that we have a network of sustainably sourced, ethically grown to be beautiful for the planet for the people for the future. So, we’re sharing the news with the with the audience that come by,” said Suzette Arroyo, director of marketing for Redpath.
The Waterfront is a place of many new constructions and development. One such development is the LRT.
Rajan stressed the importance of the LRT, not only as a renewable source of transportation, but as a way to connect the community.
“When it comes to these types of events, it brings people closer to water and land, and that LRT is a sustainable mode of transportation; This should have aided them in achieving their goal of connecting people to land and water without emitting harmful gases that have an adverse effect on both people and the environment. This event also highlights for participants and organizers how much more flexible and accessible the LRT will be than buses.”
