QGA’s participation in 2011 Canada Day Parade
This year’s Canada Day was blessed with a wonderful summer’s day for the thousands of people who lined Ste-Catherine street in Montreal last Friday to cheer the parade and also dance and sing to the sounds of live Goan music blasting from our very own QGA float. And not to forget our Goan dancers clad in colourful saris and Goan attire who graced the float as it slowly moved down the parade route. Many at the parade were thrilled with our colourful and well decorated QGA float and cheered us on with slogans such as “viva Goa” and “Happy Canada Day”. Armed with a water bottle, a big smile and a huge bunch of Canada flags my job as “float security” was thrilling as it was great to see our float so well appreciated by the cheering crowds who were swept away by the beat of our float’s young Goan musicians.
M.P. Justine Trudeau who was on the review stand threw a few big waves to our float (and to me) and Flora who was the parade emcee did a good job introducing our President Mary Silveira and float participants to the crowds. After the parade we took plenty of group pictures and were treated to well deserved refreshments and Indian snacks and then helped dismantle decorations, instruments and the sound system on the float and the two supporting vans.
In summary this was a thrilling experience and it was great to see the crowds pose for pictures with our float and display there appreciation by applauding and swaying to the strains of our float’s intoxicating Goan beat. It was also very rewarding to see the acknowledgement in the faces and body language of the various communities and specially the East Indian, Goan and Portuguese communities embedded in the crowds.
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