Stratford For All Seasons: Secrets & Surprises. Phyllis Hinz

       DRAGON BOATS

      The annual Rotary Club of Stratford Dragon Boat Festival, a single day of Hong Kong-style dragon boat races, takes place in September on Lake Victoria. You can join thousands of participants and spectators who contribute to the spirit and positive energy of the event. Long canoes adorned with mythical Chinese dragons slip through the water. Brightly dressed paddlers, arms glistening in the sun, muscles straining, shout encouragement to one another. People lining the shore scream and cheer in support. Paddlers sit in pairs facing forward, and the first two set the pace. The drummer, urging the paddlers forward, synchronizes the beat of the drum to the pacers to signal the need for more or less power. The steerer stands at the back of the boat.

      Mixed teams, women’s teams, breast-cancer teams, and community event hospice teams race down the 500-metre, four-lane course. The first team to put the nose of their dragon across the finish line wins. Mixed teams must have sixteen to twenty paddlers, with no less than half being female. Breast-cancer teams consist of twenty breast-cancer-survivor paddlers and a female drummer. The steer person may be male. The community event hospice teams, unique to Stratford, require a maximum of sixteen paddlers with no less than half the paddlers female.

      The Stratford Dragon Boat Club is open to anyone who wants to learn to paddle. The Stratford Women’s Team is one of the longest existing all-female dragon boat teams in North America. Seven paddlers from the Stratford Juniors, ages eleven to eighteen, have raced at the world championships.

       FESTIVAL CRICKET COMPETITION

      The Stratford Festival’s cricket tradition began in the 1950s when Tyrone Guthrie and other British theatrical celebrities arrived in Stratford to be a part of the city’s new Shakespearean theatre. As a break from the pressures of tent construction, stage design, and rehearsals, the Brits played cricket, their game with origins back to the sixteenth century.

      Each year, the Stratford Festival and Shaw Festival challenge one another to a cricket match in order to prove, in a sportsmanlike way, which is the better festival. The friendly rivalry between the two theatrical companies began in the 1970s. The match is always on a Monday, a dark day at both festivals, which means actors and staff have one day to show off their cricket competency. The annual match alternates between Stratford and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

      The Stratford Team is known as Blakes’ Blokes in honour of its founder, actor Mervyn (Butch) Blake, who was at the Stratford Festival for over forty seasons.

      The Stratford-Shaw match is a day of champagne and celebration, revelry, and rivalry. One story describes how, in 2015, Bill Malmo, a Stratford Festival veteran, opened a bottle of bubbly with a sabre and then went on to open a second with a cricket bat. Other antics include the Shaw Festival players arriving in Stratford dressed in theatre production costumes.

      In cricket there are specific rules regarding intervals taken during a match. In Stratford and Niagara-on-the Lake, when teatime is announced, lunch is served. There is also a dinner after the match. If you find yourself in Lower Queen’s Park on cricket day, you can partake in the food and drink. If you wear all white, you will fit right in.

       SEASON:

      Late Summer or Fall

       LOCATION:

      Lower Queen’s Park, Stratford, every other year

       WEBSITE:

      n/a

       HIGHLIGHT:

      A cricket competition between Stratford and Shaw Festivals

       SEASON:

      Spring, Summer, Fall

       LOCATION:

      Corner of Downie and Ontario streets

       WEBSITE:

       www.stratfordcitycentre.ca

       HIGHLIGHT:

      Downtown Stratford at street level with a free horse-drawn carriage tour

       FREE CARRIAGE RIDES

      Every Saturday, from about the beginning of June to the end of September, more than 300 stores and businesses in Downtown Stratford provide free horse-drawn carriage rides through the city’s Victorian-era core. Rides depart every half hour and are on a first-come, first-serve basis from noon to the last run at 3:30 p.m. All you have to do is present yourself at the corner of Downie and Ontario streets, on the north side of the intersection, in front of the Freeland Fountain and Memorial Gardens.

      John Thomson is the carriage driver. He talks to his horses, calls them by name, and gives them a “giddy-up” when he wants them to move along. John controls the reins while his sister Lois rides shotgun. Lois keeps an eye on traffic. It is her arm that signals an upcoming turn at an intersection. If Lois can’t make it on a certain day, one of John’s other sisters fills in. The tail gunner, who stands on the top step at the rear of the wagon, is a Stratford business owner or a local historian. They’re perfect people to provide commentary on the downtown sites and talk enthusiastically about their city. The tour presents an overview of buildings and shops you can return to on foot for a closer look.

      Thomson’s horses are quiet and mild-mannered. Honking and traffic don’t bother them as they clip-clop their way around town. When the ride is over and the horses are on a break, you can pat their necks and rub their foreheads. They don’t mind at all.

       JUSTIN BIEBER’S STRATFORD

      If your trip to Stratford is well-timed, you just might bump into Justin Bieber somewhere around the city. Stratford is Bieber’s hometown, and he still comes back to visit his old friends. When “the Biebs” returns, the locals attempt to honour his privacy; however, it’s pretty darn exciting if they can snag an autograph or a photo.

      As a young boy, Justin taught himself to play the guitar, drums, piano, and trumpet. He performed at various public places around the city. The best-known location was on the steps of the Avon Theatre. If you don’t see JB in person, this is a great spot for a selfie with Justin’s bronze star marking the site where he entertained as a child busker to gather funds to treat his mother to a trip to Disney World. Local merchants contributed to the purchase of his first set of drums. His mother posted videos on YouTube, and the rest is history.

      For the whereabouts of Justin’s favourite spots, a “Bieber-iffic! map to Stratford” is available on the Stratford Tourism Alliance website or at the Stratford Tourism office. It guides you to his schools, preferred eating places, where he played sports, and other locations that validate he was a regular kid around town.

      In 2018, the Justin Bieber Exhibit, Steps to Stardom, opened at the Stratford Perth Museum. It drew over twenty thousand people in its first year. Beliebers arrive from all over the world to see the photos, awards, letters, and personal mementos provided by Justin, his family, and Stratford friends. Contact the museum prior to visiting to be sure the exhibit is still there.

       SEASON:

      Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

       LOCATION:

      Stratford Tourism, 47 Downie Street, and Stratford Perth Museum, 4275 Huron Road

       WEBSITE:

       www.visitstratford.ca/justin-biebers-stratford