Multicultural festival shares summer event plans
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/02/2023 (980 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Organizers have dates, a location, and they’re lining up the entertainment for a summer festival intended to be the launching point for the return of the city’s winter multicultural festival.
The Westman Multicultural Festival’s summer event will be free to attend and enjoy, said the organization’s secretary, Gautam Srivastava.
“We’re hoping to keep it a really family-friendly, cost-affordable event,” Srivastava said, adding that parking will be free too.
Young members of Jindua Dance play a game called chopsticks while waiting to perform at the India Pavilion in the Dome Building during the opening evening of the Westman Multicultural Festival in 2020. (File)
Srivastava said it’s expected 10 to 11 cultural groups will perform during the festival to be held at the Riverbank Discovery Centre on July 28-29.
That entertainment will include performers from the Brandon Troyanda School of Ukrainian Dance, Indian Bhangra dancers and Irish folk dancers, and the plan is to open the festival with an Indigenous ceremony.
Between performances, attendees will be able to purchase fare from food trucks and vendors.
“It should be a lively event,” Srivastava said.
Westman Communications Group will video record some of the festival, and Srivastava said it’s hoped some of the entertainment will be livestreamed.
“A lot of our cultural groups have family overseas that may be interested in seeing some of the performances.”
There’s still time to get involved. The festival group invites any vendors interested in setting up shop at the summer festival to reach out to them through their website: gotothepavilions.com. That also goes for any smaller cultural groups that want to perform.
“If there’s smaller cultural groups that haven’t had pavilions in the past and they wish to come and perform, they’re welcome to do that,” Srivastava said.
The website will be updated as more details become available, including schedules and performers.
After a number of cultural groups disbanded since the pandemic began, the summer festival is intended to generate energy within cultural groups, and get Westman residents thinking about multiculturalism again, in preparation for the return of a full-fledged indoor winter festival in 2024.
Srivastava said that hopefully the summer festival will attract new cultural groups and encourage them to take part in the winter event.
Srivastava’s group and Westman Immigrant Services have met to discuss how WIS can help with the winter festival, perhaps by directing festival organizers toward sources of funding.
WIS community outreach manager Hannah Holt said her organization is ready to do what it can to support the festival.
Brandon is a major destination for newcomers in rural Manitoba, she said, and a multicultural festival can feel welcoming for immigrants who enter the community.
“We’re really excited to see multiculturalism being so vibrant in our community,” Holt said. “We’re excited to play any role that we can, really.”
» ihitchen@brandonsun.com