CentreCity

Year of the Dragon +15 Parade

Centre City's +15s were jam packed with Chinese New Year revellers Friday afternoon thanks to a parade put on by High Performance Rodeo. The hugely successful event was a great way to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. Musicians, dragon dancers and plenty of other people dressed in colorful costumes ushered everyone through the +15 system during rush hour. 

(Parade about to commence - photo posted by Mayor Nenshi on Twitter - @Nenshi. Mayor Nenshi was the parade marshall!)

 While some people obviously planned to take part in the parade, many other commuters were treated to the great surprise of it all - such a festive way to start the weekend, we think!

  

(The main attraction - the dragon! Photo taken from www.hpr.ca)

Happy Year of the Dragon to you! Have a wonderful week in your Centre City, Calgary. 

(Photos below courtesy of Daorcey from the Mayor's office - thanks!)

 

 

 

 

Centre City Advent/Event Calendar!

For a few years now, we had a fun little contest running here on the Centre City Talk Blog where we posted little snips of a photo each day in December with a full photo reveal the next day - we asked you to guess what and where that photo was taken. We had lots of great fun putting that together and decided this year we might move to a little different direction and turn our "adventful" calendar into an eventful calendar. 

This month, we'll try to post as many things to do in the Centre City as we can on here. No guesswork with this one but there's still a challenge: we would love it if you could try to attend at least one or two of these suggested CC happenings.

And then leave us a comment and tell us what you thought of it!

It's a great way to get to know your Centre City but also, it's just really satisfying to get out and have fun with friends and family for no other reason than JUST 'CAUSE. 

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So now to Day One on the Centre City Advent/Event Calendar: 

Until December 9th, you can watch an amazing ice sculpture scene come to life. Some wildly talented ice artists will be chipping, chainsawing and shaping blocks of ice into a horse and sleigh, Santa, snowman and children. So stop by on 100W block of Stephen Avenue Walk (in front of SportChek) to watch the ice fly. 

The sculptures will be left up for everyone to enjoy right through to December 21st - let's hope our chinooks stay away until then! 

To help get you in the mood, check out this video, courtesy of the Calgary Downtown Association, of a previous ice sculpting event: 

 

 

Forget Rockefeller, Centre City Has its Own Tree!

(photos taken from EV Experience's twitter feed! Click here to follow them too)

That 20 foot tree (sponsored by Stantec) went up Friday in the Centre City's East Village. Now, for the fun stuff: decorating! Watch for updates here - we'll post a photo of it in all its sparkly lit glory very soon.

Calgary: We're Not Living up to our Stereotypes

Tweet from @jianghomeshi on Friday November 18th, 2011:

"Hey Calgary - You're doing a lousy job of living up to stereotypes. My opening essay/ode to #YYC on Q today: http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2011/11/18/jians-essay-on-calgary----live-from-calgary/"

What do you think? Is he spot on? We like all the indirect Centre City references... we'll take that as a pat on the back! :)  

Pecha Kucha Night: Featuring A Few of Our Own!

What have you reclaimed lately?

Maybe it's a bit of time in your day to spend reading or walking around the Centre City at lunch. Perhaps a family heirloom was reclaimed or your favourite sweater - taken back from an ex-boyfriend?

The act of reclamation can be small enough to impact only one person - or it can also reach as far and wide as to impact the world. And that's what the upcoming PechaKucha Night in Calgary is all about with its theme Reclaim.

 

Tickets are free and this is a night not to be missed. It's happening Wednesday, November 23rd (doors at 6:30 pm and event starts at 7:00 pm at the John Dutton Theatre, Central Library 616 Macleod Trail SE). This will be Calgary's 10th PechaKucha Night. 

Some Centre City supporters will be speaking at the event, including The City of Calgary's Sonny Tomic, who is our new manger of Centre City Planning and Implementation. Here's the rest of the guest list so far:

• Kathleen Bell, Communications Officer, Calgary Counselling Centre
• Brian Johns, Wildlife Biologist
• Ben Millen, Board of Directors, The New Gallery/John Snow House
• Jesse Moffatt, Manager of Collections and Artifact Care, Cantos Music Foundation/National Music Centre
• Mike Morrison, Blogger/Writer
• Gene Poole, Calgary Cassette Preservation Society
• Dr. Roger Saint-Fort, Associate Professor and Chair, Mount Royal University Department of Environmental Science
• Lorna Crowshoe, Aboriginal Issue Strategist, Social Policy and Planning, City of Calgary
• Additional speakers announced soon.

  

Tickets are available at the door or in advance at PKN10.Eventbrite.com.

PechaKucha Nights in Calgary are hosted by Calgary Arts Development (CADA) and sponsored by East Village.

And if you're still reading and wondering what a PechaKucha night looks like, here's a presentation from the previous night in Calgary - a chat by local actress, Ellen Close:

PechaKucha Night Calgary #9 - Ellen Close from Calgary Arts Development on Vimeo.

 

 

 

Dance in our Centre City

Just in time to help defeat the cold and snow, a powerful punch of spicy, jazzy indoor art is happening in our Centre City this week (actually, to be honest, art is always happening in the CC but we took a real shine to the danciness of this particular event).

So bundle up and check out this show for the whole family: The Great Jazz History Mystery. Put on by Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, it's an exploraton of the history of jazz...and it's rumored to be fun and giggle-worthy for kids both young and old. We love art that is accessible to everyone and this show, which is choreographed by local dancer extraodinnaire Kim Cooper, should fit that bill precisely. Take a peek: 

 

The Great Jazz History Music- Characters from Decidedly Jazz Danceworks on Vimeo.

Tickets are still available at the DJD box office and it runs November 17th - 20th. The show is for kids ages five and up and it's happening at Theatre Junction Grand. 

 

Buy a Piece of Old Science Centre History

If there's a science buff on your holiday shopping list, here's a chance to wow them.

The former Telus World of Science (in our Centre City) is gearing up for an auction this coming Sunday, November 16, 2011. You'll find antique telescopes, audio and visual equipment, children's furniture, artwork and much more. A public viewing of the items is being held tomorrow, Friday, November 18th but the actual auction event will take place on Sunday at the old Telus World of Science Building (#701, 11 St. SW).

To read more about auction items, visit calgary.ca or reidsauction.com.

  (photo by kootenayvolcano)

On the subject of the old TELUS Science Centre - while the old tennants have moved out - any ideas on who you would like to see move in to the Centre City building? It's a fun idea to think about. Share your thoughts in our comments!

Calgary Designated Cultural Capital of Canada - 2012

In case you haven't heard, Calgary has officially been designated the Cultural Capital of Canada for 2012! 

Of course, something like this happens because of a whole bunch of dedicated Calgarians working together (for a year) to earn the privileged title. Great to see!

And being named the Cultural Capital of Canada means 2012 is our year to showcase all of the brilliant arts and culture and character that goes into making Calgary such a great place to call home. The appointment of this title means Canadian Heritage will supplement the $2 million dollar commitment that Calgary City Council has already made to make the year shine as much as possible. 

In case you haven't already stopped by the 2012 website make sure you do check it out. This is an opportunity for all Calgarians to come together to show the rest of the country all that we have to offer. Yay us! 

 

Keeping It Green: Centre City Indoor Parks

Brrrrr... it's feeling chilly out there. With winter about to set in, we here at The City's Centre City blog thought it would be fun to post some pictures of the indoor gardens that are open year-round in our downtown.

A couple of our team members captured these pics of some lovely green-filled, art enhanced gardens. They were out, revisiting what developers have been creating, to see how future developments will fit into this landscape. Take a look below and let us know which ones are your favourites.

                                     Suncor Energy Centre:

                                    Transcanada Tower:

                          Spot Artist Dale Chihuly's glass chandeliers in the Jamieson Building:

    Jamieson Building, with artist Dennis Oppeheim's installation Pathways to Everywhere:

                                    Nexen Building:

 

And don't forget, there's also Devonian Gardens! It's one of Calgary's most beloved indoor parks and it's currently undergoing renovation. It's expected to re-open next summer.

Calgary Architeture Earns Worldwide Recognition

Calgary's renowned Sturgess Architecture won big recognition this week at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona.The firm was crowned Future Project of the Year - Competition Series for its design titled Glacier Discovery Walk. It's a stunning walkway - one meant to showcase brilliant architectural design, suspended high up in the stunning natural landscape just off the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. It would serve as a kind of spiritual perch to watch the land over time as it shifts, changes, recedes due to global warming.

Here's a conceptual photo from Sturgess Architecture showing how it would appear: 

 

Sturgess Architecture has worked on many Centre City projects including the 7th Avenue CTrain refurbishment, the Grand Theatre and The Bow Building.

To read more about the Glacier Discovery Walk design, click here and here.