FolkFest ~*~Final Day~*~

FolkFest this year had 16 pavilions.  They are located at different parts of the city.  None of the pavilions were on the North or West parts of Saskatoon.  Today there were some road closures for road repairs making it difficult on festival goers.  We decided to go to the eastern part of the city where three pavilions were being held because traffic didn't seem to be an issue in those parts.

We headed to the soccer centre.  It is large enough to hold maybe 3 pavilions but this year they were calling it the Global Village.  Inside the one auditorium were Laos and Oromo.  There were several booths selling wares.  I was really attracted to the bone jewellery.  It was only $5 for a bone bracelet.  I also really liked a small heart shaped bowl made in Kenya that was inexpensive as well.  But I left both behind.  Sometimes I am overwhelmed with choices and just decide on nothing!  The Laos dancing reminded me of a Hawaaian dance.  It was very fluid with hand gestures.  The dancing at Oromo reminded me more of Indian dancing with a lot of stamping of feet and hopping.

Oromo Coffee Ceremony Display

We did not eat from the offerings of these two pavilions but it really smelled delicious.  Oromo is very well known for it's coffee and had a coffee ceremony hut.  They were not showing the ceremony while we were there but the placement of the utensils and seating reminded me of the Chinese Tea Ceremony which we saw two years ago at the Asia-Pacific Pavilion.  I do wish we could have seen the Coffee Ceremony as we do enjoy our coffee!

Not far away, just a hot jaunt through the parking lot and down the street, was the Norwegian pavilion.  I mention the heat because today it was 30*C if not warmer.  The Norwegian pavilion inside and out of St. Joseph's school was very hot.  We always enjoy this display because Hubby's heritage is Norwegian and Swedish.  They had several booths set up selling items.  I marveled at the Hardanger which is a form of needlepoint and cutwork.  I've made small items myself but it is very tricky when cutting away the cloth after you've toiled at the needlework!  We laughed at the t-shirts which read "Does this shirt make me look Norwegian?" 

We saw several Trolls and like the fairy tales they are homely little creatures!  You could stand with a backdrop and have your picture taken with some of the Trolls too!

Outside the back of the school there were real live Vikings!  When we saw them they were resting in their tent.  However, they are a rowdy bunch and tend to get into fights.  We overheard some excited children talking about it.  I noticed the children were wearing home made tee shirts that read Around the World Birthday Party and thought what a wonderful idea!!

Hubby and I stood in the food line which was probably the best organized of all the food stops.  I had a meatball plate which came with Swedish meatballs in a mushroom dill gravy, beet salad and lefse.  Lefse is a tortilla like flatbread made with potatoes instead of flour.  Hubby had.....guess?  HA!  Herring on toast!  As well as, smoked salmon with cream cheese on bread and a single roll of lefse with butter and sugar.  Remembering the sign behind the counter, "Why take chances, eat dessert", I opted for an almond tart. 

Scandinavian Fudge

There was a fudge counter and it was fun to read the names of the fudge.  Olie cookies & cream.  Fjord rocky road.  Hannah butterscotch.  I snapped a picture and the lady mused that there were less calories my way.  *grin*

Lady making Krumkake in a waffle iron.

We also treated ourselves to Krumkake.  Krumkake, in my opinion, is the Scandinavian answer to Italian Cannoli.  It is a batter which is cooked in a special Krumkake iron....like a waffle iron, and then molded around a cone.  In Hubby's family, the Krumkake is filled with a cream and sometimes has candies or sprinkles on top.  It is delish!  The ladies making it were having a hard time to keep up with the supply at $1 each, but sadly they were not filling them with anything.  They sure were yummy though and the smell wafted through the whole pavilion.

We decided that was it for our round the world tour.  We didn't go to the Bangladesh, Brazilian, German, India, Irish or Ukrainian pavilions.  We have done some of them in previous years.  The Ukrainian and German are always good but always packed full.  I think the most memorable and fun was the Indian/Métis pavilion and I would definitely take that one in again.  It was great fun and for the price of a passport $15 we indeed took in world class entertainment.