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Day of the Dead - Harbourfront Centre

1/1/2015

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Day of the dead at Habourfront Centre

By Dea Yu (age 9), Selena Xu (age 9), Edward Wang (age 9)

On   November 9, 2014, Voice K journalists went to the Day of the Dead Festival at Toronto Harbourfront Center. Colourful lights lit up the rooms. The halls were filled with beautiful Mexican paper cut-out decorations and stunning flower arrangements.  Mexican music was heard almost everywhere. This festival looked like a memory from Mexican past.

When we got there, we went downstairs into a room full of information on the Day of the Dead. We went to the back where we started to do some paper cutting, just like the ones that were hanging on the ceiling. 

When we got to the theatre for the band performance, it was already very cramped. A couple minutes later, the show started and the audience quieted down. A man walked onto the stage and gave a mini-speech. He talked about the birth of the festival and he introduced the band ─ which was all female ─ that was called “Mariachi Flor de Toloache”. The band members explained that “Flor de Toloache" is the name of a flower in Mexico that they put in love potions.

The show included various songs from the people of Mexico and also Latin America. They have slow, fast, high- and low-pitched songs. They sing many famous songs like Calaca and Guadalajara.

All band members wore skull makeup on half of their face. They were also dressed in beautiful band costumes. To us, we didn’t see a band with costumes and makeup. When they were playing slow music, we saw a musical river with beautiful cherry blossom trees all over it. When they were playing fast music, we saw an empty desert with a rampaging horse dancing in the distance.

 The audience cheered for the Mariachi Band on stage while they were singing a wonderful tune and clapped to the beat while others danced or sang. That is the Mariachi Flor de Toloache. They are the first ever Mariachi band that are all women. In 2008, Mireya Ramos found the Mariachi band. The Mariachi band was originally from New York, but the members are from Indiana, United States, Australia, Dominican Republic, Mexico and even Canada! What you can explore are celebrations from Mexico and other areas of Latin America.

 “My father was a mariachi and I used to go with him to all his shows,” says Ramos, a violinist and a singer. “So I fell in love with mariachi music and through that I would learn violin and voice.”

The band explained their half skull makeup: “The day of the dead is about celebrating our ancestors. Part of the makeup represents the ancestors and part of it represents our generation.” 

“It was very exciting when I learned the festival is happening and is assigned to me,” said lead artistic associate, Umair Jaffer. “Harbourfront Centre has a theme of legacy this year. Under this theme, we are transforming from the past to the present and to the future,”

Day of the dead (Dia de los Muertos) is the time of the year when people celebrate and be happy for the people from the past. This celebration was born before Christianity was invented.



“All the activities from the festival are about legacy, celebrating the past and passing onto the next generation,” said Jaffer.


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ARTIST AT DAY OF THE DEAD CELEBRATION

BY: Leo Yin (age 11)

Crafts, music, and fun! I couldn’t decide which was best.

From the craft section, there was a great artist, Steve Loretta, who made attractive skull crafts. The most interesting skull was a sugar skull completely covered in icing leaves which was really breath-taking since the leaves looked real.

He made about four types of crafts for the Day of the Dead celebration. Loretta said, “I started making the these crafts five years ago when I was running a children’s workshop on making the sugar skulls in 2009 at the Brick Works, which made me now have a good memory of how to make them.”

There were paper skulls, sugar skulls, full skeletons, and skull decorations. The biggest question in my head was how he created so many decorations for the celebration and did not run out of ideas.

 “I was inspired from my heart to make these creations and that is just a thing I like to do,” Loretta said.

He even made a sugar skull kit with which to decorate your own sugar skull with icing. The decorations came with eye catching colours and irresistible style.

This is a Mexican celebration to respect the dead. Next time don’t forget to have fun with some awesome Day of the Dead crafts!

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Kidzfest Winter Magic 

12/8/2013

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图片Leo interviewing Cheryll Diego
Kidzfest Winter Magic
by: Leo Yin (Age 10)


Kidzfest started 6 years ago at Yonge and Dundas square. It goes on for six hours, from 11 am to 5 pm. Over 8,000 to 10,000 people come every year! Kidzfest has a lot of entertainments for kids like SpongeBob, My little pony, the Grinch who stole Christmas, and much more. Aside from that, there were also bouncy castles, cotton candy stands, and a tumble bus. There was always a long line for any game or activity everywhere you go. There’s also a lot of walking characters, one of them was a Tim Horton’s cup! Voice K interviewed one of the organizers named Cheryll Diego.

“To get the weather to be nice is the hardest part of setting up this festival,” said Diego.



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Peformance on Stage
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Tumblebus
图片Leo with the Lego Man
Aside from the walking characters and the activities, there were also a lot of shows. The one we liked the best is a pirate magic show.  Two pirates performed and asked for volunteers in the audience to help them with their magic show. . One cool trick that I really liked was the one were the captain takes an empty bag and pulls out a bunch of huge things. . How is that cool? Well, the bag was the size of a small McDonald’s take out bag!

After the magic show, I saw another performance by the famous toy brand, Lego. “Lego has been performing for almost 40 years! Lego started in 1970 and has been very popular. Even I still like Lego,” said Jodel Jimenez, the Lego volunteer. Lego is surely a favorite when it comes to kids like me, it’s a lot of fun.

“The fun thing about being a performer is talking and interacting with kids,” said Jimenez.

I also got to talk to one of the people in the audience named Rosemary Asir.

“I’ve been to over 30 festivals and my favorite one is the winter fair,” said Asir.

 “It feels nice to be an audience member because you can just sit down and relax while you watch the performers,” said Asir. Very true! It was such a great experience watching different characters perform.

 Another thing that got the kids’ attention was cotton candy machine. A lot of kids were interested about how the person who makes the cotton candy. The vendor just twirls the cotton candy onto a small, thin paper cone. I learned that the cotton candy is soft and sticky that’s why it sticks to the cone.

Kidzfest is like a dream come true, full of toys and laughs! If you’re a kid just like me or a kid at heart, come to the next kidzfest and have some fun!


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Hi, my name is Leo Yin and I am one of the journalists in Voice K. I am 10 years old and I am in grade 5. I live in Mississauga Ontario. I like to play sports, such as ice hockey, basketball, badminton, swimming, biking etc. l go to Credit Valley Public School. My favorite subject is math and l also really enjoy playing piano and singing. My favorite piano peace is Fur Elise. So yeah. That's pretty much all you need to know about me. See ya!
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Illuminite Toronto 2013 Festival 

11/19/2013

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PicturePerformance at the main stage
By: Leo Yin (Age 10) 


At the amazing Illuminite festival on November 16, 2013, there were tons and tons of breathtaking performances. The Illuminite performers flew, danced, and did fancy walks!

The festival’s purpose is to light up downtown Toronto with a big bang. Illuminite has a lot of actors from Winter Magic, a professional performance team. In fact, there are so many people who come to this event that the place is very crowded wherever you go. If you’re short like me, you won’t be able to see much.

“About 8,000-10,000 people come to this event per year,” said Mark Garner, the executive director of the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area. “This event started seven years ago in 2006 and happened right on Yonge and Dundas Square.”

Illuminite started at 6:00 p.m. and ended at 8:00 p.m. At the beginning of the event, music started playing while the performers got ready to come out to perform. Most people were attracted by the balloon even before the event started. 

Wherever you looked, there were people shifting from one side to another, trying to get a better look at what was going on. Interesting things were going on at every corner of Dundas Square. The things that caught people’s attention the most were: the acrobat on the white balloon, four gentlemen playing drums on the roof, an angel with handcuffs on, and people in silver outfits.

Near the end of the event, the performers tossed a lot of balls to the audience. People tried to grab one to keep it. Near the end of the balloon performance, the acrobat hanging on the balloon threw some pebbles at a Christmas tree and all the lights went on. We met a performer named Nicky Pearson, but she didn’t have time to talk.

“I like watching shows because they seem to be pretty fun and interesting,” said Ethan Yang, a young child. “I’m very excited about the balloon fly.”

The audience was too amazed to leave even after the end of the event. They stood still until they made sure that there were no more performances.

“The weather and the double stages is the hardest part of this event,” said Garner when we asked about any challenges he has experienced while organizing this event.

Illuminite hopes to see you next year. The Winter Magic festivals will go on until the end of this month so step into Dundas Square and be amazed!


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Voice K Junior Journalist Leo Yin (left) with Mark Garner (right), Executive Director at Illuminite
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Big White Balloon
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Performance by Winter Magic
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Hi, my name is Leo Yin and I am one of the journalists in Voice K. I am 10 years old and I am in grade 5. I live in Mississauga Ontario. I like to play sports, such as ice hockey, basketball, badminton, swimming, biking etc. l go to Credit Valley Public School. My favorite subject is math and l also really enjoy playing piano and singing. My favorite piano peace is Fur Elise. So yeah. That's pretty much all you need to know about me. See ya!
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Holland Marsh Soupfest

10/8/2013

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PictureLeo with event organizer Jon Bell
Holland Marsh Soupfest
By: Leo Yin (age 10)

On October 5, 2013, people from all over the GTA attended the Holland Marsh Soupfest located in Newmarket, Ontario. It was a rainy day, but it was a perfect day to get some soup!

“About 1,000 people come each year, and many come over and over,” Jon Bell, the organizer, said excitedly.

The Holland Marsh farmers started this soup festival for the first time in October 2007 to let people try their food and product.

“Working with all the chefs is the most fun part of being an organizer,” Bell said.  

Every year, about 30 chefs come to the festival.  Wow! That is a lot of chefs in one place! If a restaurant had 30 chefs, it would be a big business, but at the Soupfest, most chefs were representing a restaurant of their own. They were there to compete to win a trophy for the soup they made. There were four trophies to be handed out. These trophies looked like metal bowls and they were laid right there at the entrance of the huge tent.

“To do the festival out in the rain is the most challenging part,” Bell said. Huge tents were set up in case of the rain. Inside a huge tent were the soup makers, crowded with a lot of people.   

At the festival, I met Anna Orodi who was representing ‘You’re The Chef,’ an organization that teaches public school kids about eating habits and basic cooking skills. “My daughter, Natalie and I are just volunteers,” said Orodi.

Orodi likes to see people eat what she cooks and see the smiles on people’s faces. Orodi also said that it feels amazing to be a chef.  She brought her special ‘Bean Soup’ for this festival.

A visitor named Amber Claus really enjoyed the fun and soups. “It’s a wonderful festival! A lot of effort was put to set up this festival,” said Claus. “The Mexican soup really makes me warm!” she said in a warm voice.

Matteo Castelli was one of the judges of the Soupfest. Castelli judges the soup by the flavour, colour, texture, spices/herbs, and originality. Castelli has been to at least 15 festivals! Castelli really enjoys the food and people there.

“All the soups had a great taste and it was very hard for me to give out the marks,” Castelli said.

The results were announced right after talking to Castelli.

The winner for the Home and Farm Category was Carron Farms and their soup was Purple Carrot Soup.

October is the season for soup. Step right up to have a bowl of soup and be amazed by the taste! Are you ready for your soup?

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Hi, my name is Leo Yin and I am one of the journalists in Voice K. I am 10 years old and I am in grade 5. I live in Mississauga Ontario. I like to play sports, such as ice hockey, basketball, badminton, swimming, biking etc. l go to Credit Valley Public School. My favorite subject is math and l also really enjoy playing piano and singing. My favorite piano peace is Fur Elise. So yeah. That's pretty much all you need to know about me. See ya!
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Let's go to the Ex!

8/29/2013

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PictureEdward with the Pizza Nova mascot
2013 CNE Trip - Food, Dance, and Exclusive Interviews
By Alex Hu (age 9), Edward Wang (age 8), Leo Yin (Age 10)

Voice K took a trip to the CNE on August 26, 2013. The CNE is a very attractive place for kids to play and learn. The CNE also teaches kids how to make pizza at Pizza Nova’s Kids Making Pizza workshop. If you stop by the workshop, at the beginning you will meet the Pizza Nova mascot. Then, they will teach you how to make the dough round, and at the end, you will get free pizza!

 We learned that we need to make the dough flat with our hands, and we also learned how to flip the dough in the air. We really enjoyed eating the free pizza. We also managed to ask questions about
the session. We interviewed Dominic Bruno, who was the instructor for the workshop. We asked how
this event got started and he said: “We started doing this session in a tent. We got great results and
the manager gave us this room." We also asked why he liked making pizza. He said: "I like making
things with my hands, and pizza is very special to me. I have no difficulties making it." Bruno has
been making pizza for quite a long time; “I’ve been working here for twelve years!” he said.

PictureAn interview with Carmen Harany
Next, we interviewed the manager, Marilyn Stater. Edward asked why she liked to work there, and
Stater replied, “Because I like playing with kids!” Like Bruno, Stater has been working at the
workshop for a long time too! “I’ve been working here since 1981,” she said. We learned that there’s
always a new kind of pizza because people order different pizzas everyday, sometimes with more
than five toppings! I liked this event very much and I even got to film some of the session.
When we walked out of the workshop, there was a whole new long line of kids outside waiting to go in.

For our next event, we took the CNE express train. However, the name is very deceiving because it
moved so slowly. When we finally arrived at our event, we missed it because we were late.

This led us to our third event, which was at the International Pavilion. There, we saw the five-man
dance group, Cascade. They did a lot of fighting moves and dancing. They did back flips and
slow-motion actions. We really liked their cool moves, and we really want to learn how to do them
when we’re grown up. They even picked random people from the audience to come up on stage and
perform.

Next, we went backstage and interviewed some of the staff. The first interview was with the
International Stage manager, Carmen Harany. We asked her what are some of the excitements
involved with organizing this stage. She said: "We bring people from different countries to perform."
We asked what some difficulties of organizing this show were, and she said: "We sometimes have
trouble getting [the performers] work permits to come into the country. Another thing is language.
Many people speak different languages so it is hard to communicate with them."

We interviewed Emma Dennis who is a writer from Voice K. She helps behind the scenes as a
costume character - a ladybug. We asked Emma how her job was, and she said: "It’s a fun job,
because the whole point of the job is to make people smile, so it’s nice." We asked her how she got
her job, and she said: "Carmen's daughter. I am friends with her, and we went to school together.
And one day she called me and asked if I wanted a job. I sent a resume and had an interview with
Carmen's boss, Daniel. And yeah, I got the job." We asked her why she wanted the job, and she
said: "It’s my first job, and I figured it’s not a difficult job. I figured it was a good place to start, and I
found the interaction with kids was fun."

Lastly, we interviewed Maurice Chan who is the founder of Cascade from France. We asked when
he started performing. He said: "I started when I was 19 years old, and now I'm 38. I also practice
martial arts and gymnastics." We asked how he formed the group, and he said: "I found students,
some students who came all the way from Paris." We asked what the most difficult part was. He
said: "The creation. It is difficult to create ideas for audience participation." The group also does stunt
moves in movies. In fact, they are working on some movies such as Tekken 2 and Smurfs 2.

We had a really great time at the CNE and we hope there will be more events such as these for next
year.


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Flattening the dough at the pizza making workshop
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Voice K journalists meet Cascade!
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Alex Hu
Hi, my name is Alex, I am 9 years old. I am in grade 4. I go to Maple Grove Public School in Oakville. I was born in the United States. I am the only child. I love hockey, tennis, basketball, and swimming. I joined Voice K camp for two weeks this summer. During the two weeks, we interviewed people at the CNE; we learned to film and we did funny fake news reports and uploaded them to Youtube. I really like the fake news conferences we did; one topic was about Superman getting defeated by Darth Vader. 
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Edward Wang
My name is Edward Wang. I am in Grade 3 now. I go to Edenrose Public School. My favourite food is pizza because it is so yummy. My favourite sports are soccer and hockey, because they allow me to play with team members. If you want to be the winner, you have to work hard and smart together as a team. I also like to read interesting books and watch TV when I finish my homework.  
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Leo Yin
Hi, my name is Leo Yin and I am one of the journalists in Voice K. I am 10 years old and I am in grade 5. I live in Mississauga, Ontario. I like to play sports, such as ice hockey, basketball, badminton, swimming, biking, etc. I go to Credit Valley Public School. My favourite subject is math and also I really enjoy playing piano and singing. My favourite piano piece is Fur Elise. So yeah. That's pretty much all you need to know about me. See ya! 
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Evergreen Brickworks' Wild Blueberry Festival

8/27/2013

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PictureVoice K Journalists with Catherine Gerson
The Wild Blueberry Festival
By Wendy Wang and Leo Yin

The term "blueberries" has become more than simply "blueberries" at the Wild Blueberry Festival at the Evergreen Brick Works. There are low bush and high bush blueberries, either wild or conventional, each unique in flavour and size. The festival started in August 2009, in the same place as it is today. It is a very popular festival! Catherine Gerson, the farmer's market coordinator, agreed.

"Over 3,000 people come to this festival every year," she said.

There are two ways to harvest blueberries: by hand, or by shaking the bush to make them fall onto mats.  Blueberries picked by hand are quite expensive since they take a long time to harvest. You have to individually pick every blueberry.  One basket can carry up to 100 blueberries. It takes about 1- 2 hours to fill up one basket. At the festival, we got to taste those hand-picked berries!

"It's a wonderful setup. I enjoyed tasting different things made with blueberries, the pies in particular," Debra, a visitor, said.

There was in fact a blueberry pie bake-off between four lucky bakers who were invited by the festival organizer, Marina Queirolo. The pie bake-off is held during the festival every year because August is the wild blueberry harvest season.  Each baker made many individual pies so everyone could get a taste.  By buying a $5 ballot, a visitor could sample each baker's pie and vote for their favourite. Too bad Queirolo wasn't allowed to vote for her favourite pie; only visitors and judges could. It was such a popular event that by the time Voice K went to get a taste, the pies were sold out, and the festival had been going on for only less than two hours! However, we did get to chat with one of the contestants. Farzam Fallah was his name.

PictureContest winner Farzam Fallah
"This is actually my first festival, and it's awesome! I'm a chef at the Richmond Station, a restaurant in Toronto, so this was a fun way to test my skills," Fallah said. "Although I'm making pies for this contest, my favourite thing to make with blueberries is ice cream.”

Fallah really loves cooking and baking, and he discovered his passion when he was fifteen years old. His all-time favourite thing to make is mousse, especially chocolate mousse cake. The pie that he submitted for this contest was topped with lemon meringue. Fallah's pie was deemed delicious, and won the contest! He gave Voice K his advice for pie baking.

"Don't overwork the dough," he said with a knowing smile.

PictureContest Judges
We also got to see the bake-off from the judge's point of view after talking to Wanda Beaver, who has been judging pies for quite some time now. After all, she owns her own pie shop called Wanda's Pie in the Sky.

"I have been in the Toronto pie business for 25 years now, and I can say my favourite way to eat blueberries is in the form of a pie," Beaver explained. "Pie judging is fun, we get to taste pies!"

Beaver says pies are judged by their looks and taste. The pastry and filling are important.

"The pastry should be crisp and flaky while the filling should be juicy but not too sweet. I think fruit pies should always be served warm."

However, there is more to this festival than blueberry pies. There is also a kids' garden where you can see various plants and vegetables, and even water them! In the front, there was a big tin tub filled with water, buckets, and watering cans. There were a lot of flowers to water. When the watering can was empty, visitors could refill and continue to water the flowers. A few giant watering cans took about four normal sized ones to refill! The big ones lasted for about 12-16 plants, but it depended on the size of the plant and how much water the plant consumed. In the tub, there was also a pipe-like mechanism that held water to refill a watering can, but it can take 10 scoops of water to refill a can. If the watering can is big, it takes about 15-30 scoops! Whew! It was even more tiring than it sounds. 

We met Albert Tu, who was invited by his friends to come to the festival. We asked him if he liked the festival, and he said yes, but preferred the garden.

"I really like wild blueberries, so this was a nice experience," Tu said. "I also really like pies, but I'll have to say the sunflowers from the garden were my favourite part.”


A lot of effort was put in to make this festival happen, and we could tell it was a success by the smiles on peoples' faces. When we passed by Gerson again, she said it was a fun time for everyone.

"The hardest part of setting up the festival is to make sure everyone is comfortable and having a good time. If people don't enjoy the festival, they would not think of coming back next year," she explained. "The festival organizer feels proud because the festival brings in a lot of people every year. Everyone had a lot of fun!" 

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It started with a blueberry and it ended with a pie. At the festival, you could buy and try. It's a blueberry wonderland to let your taste buds fly. Even though this year we bid summer goodbye, make sure to come back next year, and give it a try!

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Hi! My name is Wendy Wang. I am 14 years old and I live in Mississauga, Ontario. Writing is my passion, whether it's stories, poems, or articles. In my spare time I also love reading, drawing, swimming, and hanging out with my friends at Edenwood Middle School. To me, life is an adventure so I never miss a chance to try new things and meet new people. It has been so much fun participating in the creation of this magazine, so I hope you enjoy it! 
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Hi, my name is Leo Yin and I am one of the journalists in Voice K. I am 10 years old and I am in grade 5. I live in Mississauga Ontario. I like to play sports, such as ice hockey, basketball, badminton, swimming, biking etc. l go to Credit Valley Public School. My favorite subject is math and l also really enjoy playing piano and singing. My favorite piano peace is Fur Elise. So yeah. That's pretty much all you need to know about me. See ya!
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