I thought I should take in one of the many free Panamania events before the games closed, and ended up at Nathan Phillips Square.
Looking north from the pedestrian bridge, you can see the City Hall towers, the North stage, the South stage (at right), a troupe of acrobats performing on the water, and the now-iconic multi-coloured TORONTO sign.
Here's another view of the TORONTO sign, from ground level. It's nice and bright in the daytime, but is lit from within at night, and looks even cooler then!
From the ramp on the East side of the square, you can see Jane Bunnett and her group, Maqueque, warming up on the West stage.
Osgoode Hall Law School is past that, and the Confederation Life building on University Avenue, with its well-known weather beacon, is in the distance.
Here's a closer view of Jane Bunnett and her combo in action.
They are an all-female band (except for the drummer, as you see), and specialize in Afro-Cuban music. Bunnett has always been interested in African/Caribbean/Latin music, as well as in giving female musicians a showcase for their talents.
There were also large wrap-around screens in various places, where you could watch live PanAm coverage. At this time, it was the Karate competitions.
The next attraction was the Art Battle. It featured 20 artists from all over the Americas, each of whom had 20 minutes to complete a painting. Here they are at their easels on the South stage, getting ready for the competition...
...and, after a countdown from 10 to 1, they're off and painting!
These pics were again taken from the pedestrian bridge.
Another angle of them, from the same level, with the TORONTO sign in the background:
After the paintings were completed, they were put on display, and the public would vote for their preferred painting. The competition was then narrowed down to six finalists, and this is a shot of them at work:
The weather had been unsettled the whole day, and just at this time, the organizers got word that there was a lightning warning in effect. The whole show had to be shut down, music, painting, everything. This made for a bit of an anti-climax to the day, but it had still been fun.
Finally, here's my "artsy" picture of the day. The TORONTO sign's white areas are quite reflective, and I wanted to get a shot of that. It's the final "O" in TORONTO, and you can see the stage lights, sound booth and one of those wrap-around screens quite clearly:
And that was it for my Pan Am experience. I acknowledge that the ParaPan Am games are still going on, and I'm sure there will be lots of excitement around them, too.
As a Torontonian, I will always be proud of the job we've done on all aspects of these Pan Am/ParaPan Am Games. I think many will agree that we've exceeded expectations, and it should give us a good feeling, now and for the future, to know that everything has gone so well.
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