Westfest takes over Westboro
Posted Jun 12, 2011 05:57:17 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Westfest 2011 is a hit as thousands of people crowd Richmond Road as the festival thrills for the eighth year in a row.
From artists to musicians, dancers to martial art aficionados, this year’s festival is abound with local talent and some of the Ottawa-based performers are real crowd-pleasers.
The Pouch Cotatoes, a contemporary a capella group, was among the dozens of amateur musicians entertaining crowds at Westfest.
Eight-year-member Stephen Beneteau tells 1310News this group simply loves to sing.
“This isn’t what we do for a living but it’s what we live for,” he said.
Another thriller was the busker group Stunt Double Circus who frequent several Ottawa festivals captivating young and old.
In the afternoons there’s a carnival atmosphere and in the evenings free live music featuring artists like Bif Naked, The Johnny’s, Hexes and Ohs and more playing Saturday night.
There is so much going on it would be difficult to see it all in just one day.
From circus performers to clowns making balloon animals, facepainting to games, there are tons of activities to keep the kids entertained.
“I’m going to get my face painted,” said Isabella, 9, adding she would ask for a monkey.
“We went to see the stunt show and that was really cool,” said William, 13.
“Well pretty much just hanging around with your friends is pretty fun,” said Darion, also 13, who was allowed to go to the festival without her parents for the first time this year which she said was a thrill.
For younger children there is a bounce-house as well as clowns, play structures and lots of games.
And for the older crowds there are big-name music performances later in the day and several restaurants have extended their patios to accommodate the thousands of people filling the streets.
The festival continues all day Sunday.
