Week two of Folklorama officially started yesterday and I couldn’t wait to hit up a couple of my favourite pavilions from last year.
First on the docket we just had to go to the Cuban pavilion, which is held at the RBC Convention Centre. If you’re a fan of Dirty Dancing, then you’ll love this. You know how in the movie, Baby is culture shocked by all the scandalous dancing happening while she’s on vacation? Well this pavilion doesn’t hold back, although we’re more accustomed to the amazing dance moves that these troupes are performing now that we’re in the year 2016.
After the Cuban pavilion (seriously, this one is a must!), we went to the Punjab Cultural Centre to see the UK pavilion. This one was also a favourite of mine from last year, not so much for the entertainment, but more for the cultural display. They had palace guards to meet you at the door (although I guess we weren’t on the same page for keeping a straight face apparently…), they have the Tardis from Dr. Who (which I don’t actually watch, but I know how popular the show is), they have a 007 martini bar and an English tea room. There’s a sorting hat and cutouts of Prince Harry and Daniel Craig. Oh, and there’s also nightly sheep herding (yes, you read that correctly, and yes, they’re real sheep). Although there are tons of British things to look at, the pavilion actually celebrates England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
For this look I channeled my inner Amy Winehouse and Adele and went with an exaggerated cat eye. I feel like the cat eye is so iconically British, with Twiggy first making it popular and then Kate Moss rocking it on the runways. I tried to use as much British makeup as I could, which is easy since we love UK beauty over on our shores (Rimmel London and Makeup Revolution London, anyone?). For the outfit, I went with black jeggings, a white tank top, my black and white Alexander McQueen Skull Scarf and my sparkly Kate Spade x Keds sneakers. For a country well known for their punk music, I wanted to do something grungy with the outfit.
There’s so many great pavilions happening this week that it’ll be hard deciding which ones to visit. I definitely recommend placing these two high on your list though.
What pavilions will you be visiting during week two of Folklorama?
Like what you read? check out these related posts:
In 2007 I was lucky enough to travel to Israel and experience all the beauty that the country has to offer. Fast forward to this past Wednesday where I got to experience it all over again.. kinda.
This small country in the Middle East is home to many things. Aside from religion, Israel also boasts a major tech scene (they invented the cellphone), as well as the Dead Sea, where you may be familiar with the salt scrubs that come from the area. Long story short, the country boasts some of the best skincare products in the world, all made with this magical Dead Sea salt.
Keeping skincare in mind, my friends and I headed out to Shalom Square at the Asper Jewish Community Centre for the Israel pavilion on Wednesday. The Israeli pavilion is one of those pavilions that occasionally takes the year off, but whenever it’s in Folklorama, there are usually big lines to get in. It may be because of the magic of the country, or maybe because of the talented internationally renowned Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble. Either way, you’ll get to experience all the country has to offer.
We didn’t get the chance to dine at this pavilion, although their food offerings looked so amazing (think falafel, hummus and pita, latkes… okay I need to stop), but instead chose to focus all our energy on the entertainment, the displays, and the overall culture that the country and region emulates. Oh, and also Snapchat; this pavilion had their own geofilter, so we made sure to upload a few snaps to our stories (follow me – apopofcolour).
Since Israel boasts so many skincare products, I chose to keep it all looking natural and made my skin centrestage. I used a light dewy foundation (Tarte Rainforest of the Sea) and filled in my brows using a powder to make them more pronounced. I used a little bit of concealer under my eyes (Maybelline Super Skin Better Stay Concealer) to open them up, then just let my eyelashes do the talking. For the cheeks, I used a bit of bronzer (MAC Refined Golden) to contour and give me that middle eastern glow, and for blush I used Benefit LolliTint for a peony-coloured glow. For the highlight (oh so important) I used the cream highlight from the Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Face Palette and for the lips I used MAC lipstick in Hot Chocolate from the Vibe Tribe collection. Since Israelis tend to have tanned skin due to the sun, I made sure to apply some Vita Liberata tanning mousse prior to showtime.
For the outfit, since it gets so hot in Israeli I went with something light and airy. Both the black slacks and floral tank are from Nordstrom. The tassel necklace is from BaubleBar (via Nordstrom Ottawa). The floral sandals are Prada.
After the Israeli pavilion we made our way over to the Serbian Kolo Pavilion at the St. James Civic Centre where we dined on Serbian desserts, cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers. Our last show of the night was the South Sudanese pavilion, which celebrates the youngest country in Africa. South Sudan found their independence in 2011 and we watched as the performers did an amazing job on stage (and definitely the happiest looking bunch out of any pavilion i’ve been to so far).
Week one wraps up tomorrow night with week two starting Sunday. There’s still a few more shows I want to catch before the shows change up, in particular the Russian and Chilean ones.
Which pavilions did you see? And which ones are you excited for next week?
Also, don’t forget to enter my Genuine Health giveaway, I’m giving away a tub of their new fermented Greek yogurt proteins+ powder and bars!
Like what you read? check out these related posts:
Things got colourful this past Monday night at Folklorama.
So in case you aren’t from Winnipeg, every year at the beginning of August the city plays host to the largest and longest-running multicultural festival of its kind in the world. Travel around the world (and the city) and experience 45 different pavilions all based around a central theme country or region. The event is spread over the span of two weeks, with 23 pavilions the first week and 22 the second.
Although Folklorama officially kicked off this past Sunday, the boyfriend and I were out of town soaking up the rays in Gimli, so we started out Folklorama world tour Monday. Our first pavilion this year was the Mexican one, held at the RBC Convention Centre.
The Mexican pavilion, although not new to the festival, has made a return after an absence in past years. It’s run by the Mex Y Can Association of Manitoba and they actually brought in the entertainment straight from Mexico. The theme of pavilion zeroed in on tequila (what’s not to like with that?!), and took the audience on a journey through the region. From the cultural display to the food (the chips and salsa were so delish!), I was getting major flashbacks to our trip this past April to Cancun.
Since I love Mexican culture (and especially the food), I was inspired by the beauty of the residents in the region. I find that since Latinos are so beautiful in general, that they tend to keep it quite basic with the makeup to let the skin shine through and let the outfits do the talking. I made the skin very dewy and kept the eyes simple with some black kohl liner winged out (Make Up For Ever Aqua XL in Black, to be exact). I also lightly placed the black along my lower lash line and smudged it out for a subtle appearance. Since Mexico is so full of colour, I went with a bold pink on the lips, but a red or an orange would look fabulous with this look as well.
For my hair, I curled it using a clipless curling iron, then did a half-up ponytail. For the outfit, I paired some black jeggings with a colour beaded skull tank top and a black cardi.
After the Mexican pavilion we just had to make a stop at the Casa do Minho Portuguese Pavilion (1080 Wall Street), where we snacked on these pork on a bun sandwiches, a lemon dessert (which was amazing) and Portuguese wine. We got the full tour of their cultural display where I’m pretty sure I shocked the girl when I said I had never heard of Cristiano Ronaldo (I was kidding by the way). I also learned that the soccer superstar has his own shoe line and it’s made in Portugal.
Both the Mexican and Casa do Minho pavilions are on until August 6, when week one ends. Week two plays host to different countries and regions.
Which pavilions will you be checking out this week?
Like what you read? check out these related posts:
