Arts
VANCOUVER’S ONE-OF-A-KIND HOT CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL Explore the city and its flavours By Leanne Kriz // Writer
B
lack sesame, lavender, and salted caramel with rosemary are generally not flavours of hot chocolate you see on the menu of your local coffee shop, but at Vancouver’s 2nd Annual Hot Chocolate Festival, hosted by City Food magazine, these are the norm amongst the dozens of other wild flavours on offer. After the huge success of the first Hot Chocolate Festival, Rhonda May, the coordinator of the event, says that main push to continue for a second year was due to the many requests from the public. May explains that the Festival began because, as far as they knew, “no one had done a city-wide Hot Chocolate Festival before, so it was a different idea to try.” Not only that, but “Vancouver has some of the most talented chocolatiers and pastry chefs in the world, using the best ingredients, and there was not enough attention being given to that.” This year there are 13 different locations, cafés and chocolate shops alike, who are participating in the festival by offering a rotating variety of flavours over the course of one month. The festival began mid-January and ends on Feb. 14. A list of the different venues taking part in the festival can be found on the website (www.cityfood.com/
events/hotchocolate/) as well as the different flavours which festival-goers have the opportunity to experience. One of these shops is Bella Gelateria, a handcrafted gelato shop on the corner of Burrard St. and West Cordova. They are featuring salted caramel, Italian honey nougat and hazelnut, and macadamia nut flavours, all of which are accompanied with a complimentary slice of banana bread. Bella Gelateria’s specialty is handcrafted gelato but has been chosen to take part in the festival because of the fine quality hot chocolates they serve: “We put a lot of care into our hot chocolates, we use organic milk, and Michel Cluziel chocolate,” explains Tyler Pletzer, an employee of Bella Gelateria. Beyond trying the different flavours, real hot chocolate enthusiasts can also take part in the Online Photo Contest, which will automatically enter each contestant in a draw to win various gift certificates from the participating businesses, as well as the opportunity to win a Festival Pass to the 2013 Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival. All photos entered must be of either the hot chocolate itself, or of you and your friends enjoying your drinks. Young and old alike are encouraged to join, as May explains: “Almost all other beverage festivals involve alcohol, and are therefore restricted to adults only. This is one that the whole family
// Kira Campbell can enjoy, while at the same time supporting a neighbourhood business.” Furthermore, all proceeds of the festival go towards Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and its food services programs. As the festival nears its end on Valentine’s Day, it allows people an opportunity to take out their
columns
➽
significant other for a romantic date, or simply for some cheer. As May puts it, “Nearly everyone loves chocolate, and in January, when the holiday season is over, Valentine’s Day seems a long ways away, and the Vancouver weather is dark, wet and a little depressing, we can all use some cheering up.”
E DIT ORS // Samant ha Thomp son + Sarah Vit et // e di to r@ c api l ano c o uri e r. c o m
IN THE HEADLINES
The world is your responsibility
the capilano courier | vol. 45 issue 16
V
14
oter turnout in federal elections has been steadily decreasing for the last twenty years: in 1988 it sat at 75 per cent, and by 2008 it had dropped to 59 per cent. In 2008, 5.9 per cent of Canadians reported that they were involved in a political party or group. Also in 2008, 13 per cent said they had contacted a newspaper or politician to express their views, 24 per cent signed a petition, 19 per cent attended a public meeting, and 3 per cent participated in a protest or march. Although these numbers decreased from 2003, the number of Canadians who said they had searched for information on a political issue in the 12 months prior to the survey did increase from 24 per cent in 2003 to 27 per cent in 2008. These things are all related, and they speak volumes about the present state of our society. Although being an active participant in society cannot be reduced to your involvement in politics, they certainly play an important role in painting a picture of what we as citizens of society are likely to do. Most importantly, these statistics tell us that Canadians are headed down a dangerous path when we increasingly ignore the world around us. When I was younger, I wasn’t aware of current events. I didn’t know anything about politics, world issues, didn’t care for history classes; until one day, I started taking classes like Civil Studies and Law with Mr. Adair. Sometimes, all it takes
is one good experience with current events to change your opinion about their importance. In the first class of Civic Studies, he told us, “If there’s one thing you can do for homework, I want you to watch the news every night.” He wanted his students to be critical thinkers, not passively unaware members of society. Although I learned this lesson in high school, it is difficult to ensure we remain informed members of society as we progress into adulthood. Despite the fact that it is not easy, we must work to educate each other and encourage dialogue about what we are reading and seeing every single day. It cannot be emphasized enough how important this is. Imagine if we ignored current events altogether. What would happen? We would become a very suppressed and ignorant society. It would be so much easier for corporations and governments to control our lives, we wouldn’t be helping others when disaster hits and we wouldn’t be able to protect ourselves. Life would be very grim and chaotic. It is in this situation that I now understand the phrase “knowledge is power” and I am ready to be powerful. We can start off with conversation. I don’t know about you, but sometimes you need a conversation starter and it feels good to talk about something other than the show you watched last night on TV, or the latest gossip about people’s relationships. It feels good to exercise your brain
and feel smart; to share ideas, thoughts and opinions on what will one day be part of history. I always want to talk about something interesting I’ve read in the news. Too often we overlook how fascinating real life can really be. Not everyone is like me, but I did become more active and motivated when I knew more about the world. Imagine how much we all could accomplish if this was the case. If everyone knew what was going on, everyone could develop opinions and potentially get involved and we could truly initiate change. It’s like what people say at election time: “If you didn’t vote, you have no right to complain about who got elected.” Everyone who’s part of a proper conversation or debate should be able to back up or explain what they’re saying. How did you develop your opinion and where did it come from? If you don’t know what you’re talking about, you have no right to complain. We must do our research before we start spouting off about how much we hate our Member of Parliament. We saw a very important example of people coming together, finding information, and beginning conversations about it with the American legislation pertaining to the Internet. Everyone uses the Internet and everyone shares information and entertainment with each other online. It’s accessible, but we may lose the right to share information openly and freely. Although the American SOPA and PIPA have been
With Alyssa Kostello // Columnist
put on hold, Canada’s Bill C-11 is on the horizon and we need to speak out just as loudly against it. If everyone makes themselves aware about these pieces of legislation, we can form an opinion, get involved, take action, and make a difference. An even bigger and more relevant issue, for students especially, are the high tuition fees and insane amounts of debt that go along with it. In B.C. over the past ten years, tuition fees have more than doubled, and the average student debt is $27,000. My Ontario student loan has interest of $4 a day. We are entering a generation of debt and there are ways we can stop this from happening if we educate ourselves and get involved. As Mr. Adair said, the best thing you can do is start by watching the news. If you are reading up on current events, make sure you are also checking your sources and find a variety of stories to compare with in order to get a balanced point of view. Biases are always present, and unbalanced information can also be misleading. Inform yourself about everything, so that you’ll be able to participate fully as a citizen of the world. Alyssa is a recent graduate from the Acting for Stage and Screen Program here at Cap and is excited to be trying her hand at writing articles. She is currently writing a few plays, hosting a monthly variety night, and is the new President of The NOW! Organization.