It is safe to say that the city has not look so lively for a long time. The atmosphere is vibrant and people are jubilant, unless their team lost, which in case they鈥檙e drowning their sorrows with delicious beer and snacks.
A few years ago, the city put up some screens in the middle of the street during the world cup. This worked out very well and everyone had fun. So much so that they decided to put up the screens again for the playoffs of the National Hockey League鈥檚 crowning glory, the Stanley Cup. Let鈥檚 just say that while things were merry in the first few games, they turned sour later on and rioting madness ensued. This resulted on a screen ban from the downtown core.
The crowds are now back celebrating on the streets. This is uncharted territory for the city. Hordes of highly charged fans roaming the street in triumph or despair.
We made it to the round of 16, a historic achievement and anything else is the icing on the cake. Win or lose, let us celebrate and enjoy ourselves.
Crowds gathered in the middle of the street from all over town. What I found interesting was how spontaneous it all was. These were all strangers coming together and structuring themselves without a plan to celebrate. Locals and visitors united as a singular social entity that created impromptu celebration rituals. The rallying point, or strange attractors, were those members of the community who pulled in the crowd with their cheerful antics.
and who brought the sacred fire to the festivities
It was a time of pageantry
It was a season of wildness
A time of great content.
At one point, the crowd ran in circles around the intersection while singing and chanting. The maple leaf waved in the air.
Pop music echoed up and down the street with celebrants singing and dancing, jumping in unison to the beat.
Whistling, clapping, oohing, ahhing, moving in waves as more revelers spilled onto the streets from viewing zones and the whole crowd was a sea of maple red. Other groups broke out in celebration like eddies in a stream.
The city has an army of artists and musicians who enjoy showing their skills to an audience, and I was glad to see them out in full force recently. We need our troubadours and minstrels to elevate us with their song and dance.
It鈥檚 been a while since we had a good celebration as a united people, and this event has reminded me that when we put our minds to it as a local, national, and global community, we can sweep our problems under the rug for a little while and go absolutely buck wild!
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