Another Easter has come and gone and the 2nd annual toronto Vintage Easter Parade was a great success!
This year’s event was an interesting one. Because we get good search engine optimization, we started to get a lot of publicity for the event but many people obviously didn’t read the details clearly so they didn’t:
a) understand what the event actually (thinking it would be a big parade with road closures, floats, etc.)
b) didn’t read the details about where exactly we would be meeting and what the Good Weather route was vs. the BAD WEATHER route, not to mention the start time.
As clearly listed, we convened at the Bees’ Knees Dance studio at 1:30pm at 750 Yonge St. right above the Shoe Company. The parade left just before 2pm, giving people a few extra minutes since we said we’d be leaving at 1:45pm. We know people run behind schedule, so this was clearly stated and allowed for some wiggle room.
A few days before the event, cp24 started to announce us along with other Easter activities! Obviously people heard the word “parade” and made assumptions. Isn’t it ashamed that so few people associate the word “parade” with the traditional pedestrian parades like the original Easter Bonnet Parade in New York City? Hopefully in the next few years, we can help to change that.
When we left the studio at 2pm, there were tons of people waiting outside at Yonge & Bloor, looking toward the road expectantly. What a bizarre experience! We were going to head straight for the subway but instead they all turned to take photos of us so we did a walk down to Charles, across to the other side of Yonge and then up Yonge St. The number of cameras snapping photos of us was hilarious! That was really one of the most out of body experiences that I’ve had in a while.
Along with the photos and videos that are coming, we were asked by the swing dancers in Sau Paulo to make a happy birthday video for a children’s Lindy Hop group called The Golden Chestnuts. What a fun opportunity to put something together! Here we are on the subway.
There was both a Good Weather and a Poor Weather plan outlined clearly on the website and on Facebook. They were listed as follows:
Poor Weather Plan – the weather wasn’t great so this worked out perfectly
In case of poor weather:
- If the weather is bad, we’ll meet and ride the subway, then South again to walk around the Eaton Centre. The event is on, rain or shine! We originally thought that we could also go to Yorkdale Mall but it was closed. The Eaton Centre worked out perfectly though. We also made stops at Eglinton subway, Union, the Royal York Hotel, throughout the PATH and then rounded things up at the Eaton Centre including a Shim Sham and dance before security asked us to leave. 🙂
Good Weather Plan (the weather wasn’t good so we ditched this)
The “good weather” route will be 2.5 km. Please wear comfortable walking shoes. We will walk at a leisurely rate, the route with some breaks along the way, wrapping at approximately 4pm.
Schedule:
1:30pm Convene at 750 Yonge St. (A)1:45pm Walking route begins.2:30pm Dundas Square – photos & dancing (B)3:00pm Walk through the Eaton Centre (C)3:30pm City Hall – photos & dancing (D)4pm Parade wraps
All in all it was a great day! Photos and videos will be added to the main Toronto Vintage Easter Parade page very soon!