Ticklish twist on Montreal’s Christmas tree tradition
When it comes to quirky seasonal offerings, Montreal holds its own
Austrians are long accustomed to bringing in the Yuletide with a creepy ghoul called Krampus, who saunters through the country’s streets pursuing poorly behaved kids. It gets even more sinister in Vienna and Salzburg, where homage is paid to Santa’s evil twin with annual Krampus parades. Ukrainians often avoid decorating their Christmas trees with tinsel, opting instead for festive spider webs — considered to be lucky in their culture. Perhaps they can also ward off invading hordes. In South Africa, it’s not Christmas candy canes kids seek to devour. Nope, fried caterpillars. But not just any fried caterpillar will do. It must be the seasonally festooned Pine Tree Emperor Moth, or Christmas caterpillar, and legend has it that those gobbling them will be blessed with luck. But fret not, Montrealers. We appear to be more than able in holding our own when it comes to quirky seasonal offerings. Two years ago, a tradition was started when a really pitiful-looking, giant Christmas tree popped up in front of Place des Arts. Some were outraged. Most were amused. Then last year, a Christmas village was erected on Prince-Arthur St., with long-tall, ugly Christmas tree in tow. Village creators have gone one wacky step further this year by putting up a tree, which actually isn’t that ugly at all but which does giggle when tickled. And the more it is tickled, the more raucous the giggles. Best of all, though, when the tickling stops, the tree emits a huge sigh of relief. Take that, Krampus! And take heart, Montreal. Actually, better take some anti-cholesterol meds or antacids. Regardless, a new seasonal tradition may have sprung here this week: the creation of the world’s largest latke at eight-feet wide and 200 pounds. This was the brainchild of David Silberstein, owner of Rodal’s Hebrew Bookstore on Queen Mary Rd. He was inspired by the recent horrific killings at the Pittsburgh synagogue to spread the Hanukkah light by creating this latke. One of his employees had suggested they fashion a latke “bigger than any NBA player who has ever lived.” And they came darned close with this latke, replete with 100 pounds of potatoes, 80 pounds of onions and untold copious amounts of flour, eggs and oil. The only thing this latke can’t do is shoot hoops — not yet, anyway. Even seemingly traditional, annual seasonal celebrations in Montreal tend to march to the beat of their own little drummer persons: Les Grands Ballets Canadiens’ inimitable rendering of The Nutcracker (Dec. 13 to 30 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier in Place des Arts) and rousing performances by the People’s Gospel Choir (with a tribute to Aretha Franklin, Saturday at Victoria Hall) and the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir (also with a tribute to Aretha Franklin, Sunday at Théâtre Maisonneuve in Place des Arts). But as enduring Christmas traditions go in this city, there are few as confounding or as popular as the screening of the latest batch of award-winning commercials from the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (Dec. 7 to 20 at the Cinéma Beaubien and Cinéma du Parc). Confounding, not because this would seem to run counter against the religious sanctity of the season, which is, quite frankly, rampant with abundant commercialism already. No, confounding, because many of those who flock to this presentation spend the rest of the year trying to avoid ads on the tube — either by fast-forwarding through them when they have recorded shows or by opting for commercial-free sites like Netflix, Amazon and Crave. Yes, the 2018 Cannes Lions winners — the Oscars for commercials-creators — showcase clever spots, shilling everything from chocolate bars to beers, jeans to Jeeps. But the accent has shifted dramatically of late, with more of a focus on sobering public service announcements reflecting more turbulent times: The Brazilian-created Corruption Detector, for example, wherein citizens can point their phones at pictures of political candidates in newspapers or on TV, and if their pics come up purple, the candidates are, apparently, corrupt. The Plastic Oceans Foundation has come up with a winner in Trash Isles, about this newly founded, plastic-bottle-covered country — the size of France — in the Pacific Ocean. By international law, other countries are now obliged to help clean it up. By the way, Judi Dench is queen of Trash Isles. Not to be outdone, the Daily Show has emerged with The Donald Trump Presidential Twitter Library, where tweets may be deleted but are not forgotten. But one of the most hard-hitting of all is a spot about the dangers of texting and driving from our very own Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec. A message that should be particularly heeded this time of the year.