Coming together
New North Sydney festival a celebration of multiculturalism
A new festival to celebrate multiculturalism as part of Canada’s 150th anniversary will take to the streets of North Sydney this summer.
Front Street Frolic 2017 will begin its inaugural year with two events scheduled for July and August.
The first event will take place on July 25 during the Bartown Festival and a second set of activities is set for Aug. 23.
Kim Fudge originally had the idea for the festival and applied for the grant to get things started, said Shannon MacDonald, a town ambassador for the North Sydney Business Improvement and Development Association.
“Kim thought that North Sydney needed something new and exciting and she knew the Baddeck festival was a hit, so she thought we were capable of doing the same thing,” said MacDonald.
“Kim thought that multiculturalism would be a great way to get people from all over Cape Breton together to celebrate Canada 150.”
The event, hosted by the North Sydney BIDA, will feature many different things including live music and dance, local food and vendors.
MacDonald believes having a multiculturalism event in the community is an asset.
“We really wanted to take advantage of Canada’s 150th anniversary and to bring something to North Sydney that could showcase their sponsorship,” said MacDonald.
“The Canada 150 sponsorship is what allowed us to do this and it’s really exciting because it gave us the money to kind of kick start this event and we are hoping to make it an annual event as well.”
The festival will take place on Commercial Street from 6-9 p.m. on both event days. A section of the downtown core, from Blowers Street to Archibald Avenue, will be blocked off for the event.
Other communities in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality have similar events on the main street as part of annual
festivals.
In New Waterford, Coal Dust Days hosts its annual Plummer Avenue Day, where the community comes together on the main street and in Dominion, Seaside Daze has a similar event on its main street.
“I’ve attended Seaside Daze and a couple of other street festivals and I saw the amazing turnout that they had and how it was an exciting way to bring the community together,” said MacDonald.
“The people loved it and it was really exciting for them and something they looked forward to each year, so seeing other communities was definitely part of the idea.”
Although the first event will take place during the Bartown Festival, scheduled for July 22-30 in North Sydney, the event isn’t entirely part of that festival.
“(The date) was talked about because it seemed to fit well just because people are looking for different events in North Sydney at the time of Bartown,” said MacDonald.
Front Street Frolic has a Facebook page for people interested or planning on attending this year’s festival.
MacDonald said organizers are seeking vendors with locally made products, keeping with the multiculturalism theme. Volunteers are also needed for this year’s festival.
Those wanting to volunteer or to participate as a vendor are asked to call the North Sydney BIDA office at 902-794-3989 or email info@northsydneybida.ca.