I went to the Canadian National Exhibition (affectionately called The Ex) the other day with some friends and neighbours to do the haunted walk tour, which is new. The CNE is Canada’s largest and longest-running fair and people come from all over to enjoy the rides, international vendors, food and games.
The CNE grounds and surrounding area (including my neighbourhood) sit on where the Seven Years’ War and the Battle of York for the War of 1812 took place. There are literally hundreds of soldiers buried in the area so needless to say there are some lost souls still wandering about. I was expecting the tour to be scarier but because of the 200+ people in the tour, it was hard to conjure an intimate spooky atmosphere. I was more worried about the soles of my feet from all the walking in ballet flats!
Across from one of the haunted buildings was a lone vendor’s booth, Candyland. There was a lady sitting in a patio chair yelling into a megaphone “Come get your caaaandied aaaapples, cotton caaandy, popcoooorn, snow coooones!” You can see her in the pic below off to the right in her chair. There was something about the booth that grabbed me, whether it’s summertime nostalgia or the fact that it reminds me of Stephen King’s It. Looove the colours, fonts, flags – even the red apron the vendor is wearing. I’d say this is the most memorable part of the tour for me!
The CNE runs till Sept.7 including the haunted walk tour.
The haunted walk sounded interesting … Gord’s a huge fan of the War of 1812. But I doubt we’re going to get there this year.
By: Teena in Toronto on August 31, 2009
at 11:19 pm