Celebrating History
Summer in Edmonton is one big Festival. I have already mentioned that on World Cup final Sunday we came across the Street Performers' Festival, which actually lasted for numerous days but I couldn’t be bothered to go there. Then there are the Heritage days, some kind of art or markets festival, music and I don’t know what elseof which I haven't taken notice of. The next one, starting tomorrow and lasting until next Sunday, is the "Edmonton and Athabaska District Historic Festival".
Yesterday night I browsed through the whole programme and marked those events which are close (i.e. in Edmonton) and sound interesting. As to the events outside the city I have to admit I have no idea where all those places are. (Superficial, dumb European!) The only one I know anything about is St. Albert, a beautiful and rather posh town north of Edmonton. And this is today’s joke:
Father Lacombe Chapel: Tour.
"Tour the Father Lacombe Chapel, one of the oldest buildings in Alberta. It was built in 1861..."
Mind you: Not one of the oldest in St. Albert – one of the oldest in the whole state of Alberta! You see that is another issue I have with Edmonton. I think in different categories.
1861...
...the Treaty of Limerick (1691) – starting point of my M.A. dissertation – had been signed 170 years earlier (which is two dozen years more than the age of that chapel).
...Joseph II (*1741) would have been 120 years old and Kaunitz (*1711) would have been 150 years old.
...the first mentioning of the name Innsbruck ("Inspruk", 1167) appeared no less than 694 earlier. Just imagine we had such a festival: Although we’d be surprised how much of today’s Innsbruck was mere meadows back in the 19th century, what do you think, how long would it take to do a tour through all buildings which were built before 1861?
But I shouldn’t be too harsh. Point number one: At least they do have a festival here. An annual nine days historic festival; do we have anything like that somewhere in Austria? In fact I have found a number of things I might check out so I have to divide the next week carefully into my work history hours and my leisure history time.
Besides, it’s all a matter of perspective. 1861, that’s about five generations. Who knows the names of all their ancestors living at that time? Who knows more about them than just names, places and dates of birth and marriage? And imagine, how many children have been born in Edmonton since 1861, how many immigrants from all over the world have arrived here. How many different thoughts and feelings and experiences? Millions. Millions of unique stories.
Looking at it that way, there’s an awful lot of history to be read, heard, discovered, visited. Maybe not as spectacular and world shaking as elsewhere but enough for a lifetime, for some months, for nine days.
Yesterday night I browsed through the whole programme and marked those events which are close (i.e. in Edmonton) and sound interesting. As to the events outside the city I have to admit I have no idea where all those places are. (Superficial, dumb European!) The only one I know anything about is St. Albert, a beautiful and rather posh town north of Edmonton. And this is today’s joke:
Father Lacombe Chapel: Tour.
"Tour the Father Lacombe Chapel, one of the oldest buildings in Alberta. It was built in 1861..."
Mind you: Not one of the oldest in St. Albert – one of the oldest in the whole state of Alberta! You see that is another issue I have with Edmonton. I think in different categories.
1861...
...the Treaty of Limerick (1691) – starting point of my M.A. dissertation – had been signed 170 years earlier (which is two dozen years more than the age of that chapel).
...Joseph II (*1741) would have been 120 years old and Kaunitz (*1711) would have been 150 years old.
...the first mentioning of the name Innsbruck ("Inspruk", 1167) appeared no less than 694 earlier. Just imagine we had such a festival: Although we’d be surprised how much of today’s Innsbruck was mere meadows back in the 19th century, what do you think, how long would it take to do a tour through all buildings which were built before 1861?
But I shouldn’t be too harsh. Point number one: At least they do have a festival here. An annual nine days historic festival; do we have anything like that somewhere in Austria? In fact I have found a number of things I might check out so I have to divide the next week carefully into my work history hours and my leisure history time.
Besides, it’s all a matter of perspective. 1861, that’s about five generations. Who knows the names of all their ancestors living at that time? Who knows more about them than just names, places and dates of birth and marriage? And imagine, how many children have been born in Edmonton since 1861, how many immigrants from all over the world have arrived here. How many different thoughts and feelings and experiences? Millions. Millions of unique stories.
Looking at it that way, there’s an awful lot of history to be read, heard, discovered, visited. Maybe not as spectacular and world shaking as elsewhere but enough for a lifetime, for some months, for nine days.
relationes - 2006/07/21 23:15