Finally, Caucasian Fest is Here!

London is a festive place to be in the summer. Every weekend we have a different festval featuring the music and cuisine of different parts of the world. It all kicks off in July with Sun Fest in Victoria Park, featuring the world beat of music from around the equator. The next week it's Afro-Fest outside the Downtown Market, followed by Greek Fest, India Fest, Portuguese Fest, Festival Dubai and later this month, Fiesta Tierra del Fuego.

I enjoy the dancers and the colourful costumes and especially sampling the yummy delicacies of that weekend's ethnic cuisine.

But for me, with any festival, it's all about the music.

And that's what I hate about these ethnic festivals. They always play the music of their homeland. Well, it seems to me that if you are going to come to a country like Canada, shouldn't you at least have the courtesy to sing and perform OUR native songs? Hey, you're in CANADA. How about playing Canadian music? I mean, would it really kill them to perform Classic Rock and do covers of Stompin' Tom Connors?

That's why I am kinda happy that this weekend, just like every Civic Holiday weekend for the past two decades, Victoria Park is devoted to Caucasian Fest.

Some people call it Rib Fest. Others don't like the fact that only barbeque is served but for them, there's a McDonalds two blocks away at the corner of Richmond and Dundas.

I know that historically, ribs are thought of being a favoured meal of Afro-Americans, a hold-over from the slave days. Indeed, in her Civil War era novel, 'Gone With the Wind,' Margaret Mitchell writes of Scarlett O'Hara attending a Barbeque along with the rest of the Southern aristocracy at the home of Ashley Wilkes. In true high-society fashion, they have a Pig Roast. The rich whites dine on the dried out portions of the hog and this being a party after all, send the remainders out back to the black slaves who actually did all the cooking, carving and serving of the meal. What they gave the slaves were the parts of the pig they themselves would not eat. Interestingly enough, it was the most tender. moist and tastiest of the entire pig - the ribs and ham hocks. Ain't that just like a whitey, to give away the best part?

But these days, as prices at grocery stores can attest, demand for baby-back ribs in the summertime by Caucasian males with propane-fuelled outdoor kitchen ranges, demonstrates how white society has again appropriated another aspect of Black African culture. First we stole their sons and daughters, then their music and now their favorite foods.

We should be ashamed of ourselves. And often I feel that way. But I do like ribs - although I refuse to pay twenty bucks for a couple of bones at Rib-Fest. There ain't enough meat on those things to fill a rat. I can buy two boxes of those boneless Ribette things from M&M for that much.

No, like I said earlier, for me a festival is all about the music and I attend Caucasian Fest simply for the aural delights. This part of the festival is held at the other side of the park where they hold the 'Easy Listening Festival.' In recent years, in a bid to update their image to get more young people down, they've hipped the name to the 'EeeZee Lis'nn Fest.'

So far the anticipated hordes of young people haven't arrived. That's fine with me. The Fest still remains true to its roots. It's still a place where you can BYOB and a lawn chair and spend an afternoon listening to performers like James Taylor and Belinda Carlyle. It's just like being at Martha's Vineyard.

And that's how it should be. The last thing this Festival needs is a re-inventing. Mind you, I'm not some caveman afraid of change. If they were to book in Sugarland or Michael Buble, I could get down with that. As long as the music is good and relaxing and you can read a book to it, it's all E-Zee to me.