To all our dear readers who have undoubtedly been noticing the recent drought of updates on our blog, our sincerest apologies. We have been experiencing much trouble lately with maintaining the pace we had previously established, but fear not. We will now resume with our regular updates, right from where we left off, so please continue to follow us on our journey of devotional service. With no further delay, we return to the point of our departure from Toronto.
Toronto’s annual event is an easy contender for the title of the summer’s most grand festival. It is only fitting, then, that Festival of India’s most grand drive of the summer should come along with it. You see, after Toronto’s festival concludes on Sunday night, FoI makes its way across the greater portion of Canada for Calgary’s festival the following Saturday, but not before dashing to the midway point of Thunder Bay, Ontario for a festival a mere two days later.
The moment the last of our festival equipment found its spot soundly in our truck and the bay doors were closed, we immediately made to move our vehicles from Centre Island back to the mainland. Without another look back, we set out diligently on a formidable, 20 hour drive to Thunder Bay. The prospect was overwhelming, but spirits were high among the crew. We were freshly fueled by delectable pasta prasadam graciously provided by the Krishna Culture Festival Tour’s own Jaya Sri Radhe, along with discussion of plenty of fond memories of the past week’s proceedings, and of course, diesel fuel in our vehicles. We were ready to undertake this daunting task.
Despite having these elements in our favor, the drive proved nonetheless to be long, tedious, and tiring as we traversed the country roads late into the night. We thankfully had the chance to recover the following morning during a brief stop at the beautiful Serpent River, where we once again encountered the Krishna Culture Festival Tour who, as per usual, were delighted to feed our crew after we refreshed ourselves with a swim in the clear waters. The majority of the drive still loomed ahead of us, so we quickly departed to proceed on our mission.
Holding on to our last threads of wakefulness, we arrived at our destination coming on 3:00 am, eager to finally shut our eyes. We reopened them only a few hours later, as our equipment had to be set up in time for a festival that very evening. We were very thankful to watch the Krishna Culture Festival Tour bus arrive promptly after setup had begun, as their numbers were eager to offer their assistance. This accounted for a very quick setup, leaving plenty of time for recuperation and recreation before the festival was to commence.
The festival was a resounding success. Waves of people flooded the festival site (which, of course, was greatly preferential to rain flooding the site, a possibility some were concerned about when observing the grey skies; the weather was thankfully clear and cool). Wherever one looks, one can see crowds surrounding our informational exhibit panels, lining up for plates of prasadam, or enjoying cultural performances by varieties of talented artists. Festival of India only began facilitating this Thunder Bay event in 2010. Each year had seen great success, but 2012 had the largest turn out by far. Not bad for a Tuesday, right?
The day concluded with an efficient takedown by the combined forces of FoI and the Krishna Culture Festival Tour. The groups again parted ways. We then made preparations for our next drive – the one from Toronto to Thunder Bay was just a preview of what was to come! Check in soon for details of festival of India’s experience out west in Calgary!
(blog post credit – Devananda Das)
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