Holiday: Good Friday Procession 2010

The Good Friday Procession prepared to get underway on Grace Street in Toronto, Ontario on 2-April-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Traditionally, temperatures tend to be quite chilly for the Good Friday Procession in Toronto, Ontario. Last year, even though Good Friday fell eight days later than this year on the calendar, I found myself standing almost alone on the shady side of the College Street in Little Italy because most people preferred to stand in the sun to try keep warm. This year, there were actually people wearing shorts in the crowd, and I wasn't the only person wearing a short-sleeve shirt as temperatures reached a record 23 degrees.


Unleavened bread was carried in the Good Friday Procession on Grace Street in Toronto, Ontario on 2-April-2010

The Good Friday Procession is designed to put people in an appropriate mood for the Christian Easter holiday, telling the Easter story in all its details through Christ's crucifixion, everything from unleavened bread (seen above) to Barabbas being released and not Jesus. With a route mostly through Little Italy, the event is dominated by Italian-Canadian organizations.


The Malta Band performed in the 2010 Good Friday Procession in Toronto, Ontario on 2-April-2010

Much of the somber mood comes from the bands in the procession. This isn't an event in the streets with the Philippine Heritage Band playing loudly and receiving applause after each song. Much smaller community bands play more muted tunes followed by silence upon their completion.


The cross was carried to the Christ's crucifixion during the Good Friday Procession in Toronto, Ontario on 2-April-2010

Because of the many scenes from the Easter story presented, there are a lot of Christs presented. I didn't think to count portrayals of Christs over the course of the parade, but there must have been at least ten actors, most of them in some way molested by actors portraying Romans, plus a number of static representations.


Christ's body was carried to his burial during the Good Friday Procession in Toronto, Ontario on 2-April-2010

While the Good Friday Procession is certainly an impressive production, it doesn't exactly qualify as fun--that has to wait for Easter Sunday, as religious themes become overrun by secular bunnies and the parade instead has overt commercial content.


Even after just passing down Grace Street, there was already a sizable crowd following the Good Friday Procession on Dundas Street West in Toronto, Ontario on 2-April-2010

More pictures from the Good Friday procession will be in a future update to my photo site.