Folklorama spreadsheet superfan Scientific approach makes hobbies more interesting By: Eva Wasney Posted: 4:43 PM CDT Friday, Aug. 4, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/08/2023 (1151 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When asked where she purchased the bronze cuff adorning her wrist, Debbie Stern offers an exact answer.

“The African Pavilion, 2009,” she says after typing the word “bracelet” into an Excel spreadsheet she’s been tending for more than a decade.

Stern is a Folklorama superfan. She’s been attending the two-week multicultural festival since the 1970s, when she was a child, and aims to visit every pavilion each year — a goal supported by meticulous planning and documentation.

A former wheat-breeding technician with Agriculture Canada, Stern decided to apply the data-entry techniques she used in farmers’ fields to her favourite annual event in an effort to separate the wheat from the chaff.

“There’s going to be 20 (pavilions) each week, so I’ll go, ‘OK, this one was so-so, I’ll leave it to the last,’” she says. “Or, if this show is really good, I’ll make sure to see it first.”

Her Folklorama spreadsheet has tabs dating back to 2002. Each table has pertinent information about the pavilion’s venue (address, capacity, air-conditioning status); run-times and numerical ratings (1 being boring, 5 being excellent) for performances; and a section for notes about the food, cultural displays and souvenirs purchased from vendors.

Instead of lugging her laptop along, Stern keeps notes in a Folklorama program and transcribes the information when she returns home. The practice might seem like homework to some, but it’s an enjoyable exercise for the analytically minded retiree.

Stern keeps similar records for her tomato garden. One year, she grew 98 varieties of tomatoes and tracked the flavour, fruit production and growth habits of each one to suss out her favourite plant; a scientific approach makes her hobbies more interesting.

While the Folklorama rubric is a personal endeavour, it has allowed Stern to offer informed advice to friends, family members and fellow festival-goers.

“I do talk to people in line when we’re standing there waiting for the doors to open,” she says. “They’ll ask which ones I like the best and I’ll tell them.”

Stern has a long list of favourite pavilions, but always keeps an open mind.

“I do talk to people in line when we’re standing there waiting for the doors to open… They’ll ask which ones I like the best and I’ll tell them.”–Debbie Stern

“I like learning about the different cultures,” she says, drawing a comparison from one of her favourite sci-fi series.

“In Star Trek, we’re all human … we’re all one. And it’s nice when you go to Folklorama and you learn about each other and we’re all similar — we all like food, we all like dancing.

“It’s a small world.”

In the weeks leading up to the festival, Stern spends time plotting her route. She buys tickets ahead of time and plans her itinerary based on venue proximity to cut down on travel time.

It’s possible to attend a maximum of three pavilions on weekdays — “6:45, 8:15 and 9:45,” she says of the nightly performance times — and as many as five per day on the weekends.

Stern, who attends most shows with her mom and sister, has become the family tour guide: “I’m the one that does the driving and I’m the one that plans; they just leave it to me,” she says.

Her interest in visiting every pavilion started in childhood, when Folklorama doled out faux passports and volunteers provided stamps. It was a rush to get a complete set; filling out her homemade rubric offers similar motivation.

“And I enjoy it,” Stern says of the festival.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @evawasney