Last summer, I was bored out of my mind because hey, after immense pressure and ever-increasing loads of schoolwork and commitments, when 2 months with no pressure and little to no schoolwork stretches out in front of you, it can often seem cavernous. It’s funny how we often look towards summer holidays as the pinnacle of our existence, the blessed medicine to soothe our hurts and fears, and the light at the end of the tunnel…but when they come strolling around, we find that we are at a loss of what to do with all this time on our hands. After the thrill of having no sleeping or eating schedule wears off, the days become tedious which arises feelings of listlessness in us. To get rid of my boredom, I turned to one of my hobbies: volunteering. I was familiar with Calgary’s downtown scene so I checked out some street festivals through the Internet. The first festival I volunteered at was the Sun and Salsa, which is occurring this year on Sunday,  July 21st from 11am – 5pm at Kensington.
My volunteer experience was very relaxed. When I first went to the volunteer tent, I got a free t-shirt. I got to wait inside the tent, talking to other volunteers and just observing the people entering Kensington. I got up occasionally to help sign-in and keep track of the volunteers and their roles. After the volunteers went on their respective paths, I got to sit back and relax. Occasionally, I had to direct errant volunteers, carry items to other supervisors, and tell specific volunteers to come back or go somewhere else. Also, there were free granola bars and juice throughout the whole day, and during lunch, there were delicious sandwich and fruit trays. The volunteer coordinator was really nice and understanding. Overall, my volunteer experience there was a blast!
After I volunteered, I went around each and every stall to experience the entirety of the festival. Of course, the lines for the salsa were very long and getting through the street was difficult but I managed to push through. Even though there was a crowd in front of the entertainment stages and I couldn’t see the dancers because I’m a height-disadvantaged individual, I went around to the back of the stage where it was relatively free of people and I got to sit down and enjoy the show. The stalls themselves were filled with many interesting items from traditional African art and scented soaps by Scentsy to more familiar sights like face-painting, hair-dressers, gyms and art shops vending their wares. There was an amusing Car2Go event present where individuals tried to parallel park with the tiny car in the shortest amount of time possible, to win a Car2Go for themselves. There were lot of freebies passed around, like stickers, pins, skipping ropes and gym bags. There was an overall atmosphere of joviality and happiness, supported by the blazing summer day that accompanied this event.
Overall, the event was quite fun and I can’t wait to go there again this year!
Sources:
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