‘A microcosm of Canada’
Cultures share traditions, art and cuisine during annual DiverseCity Festival
Downtown Charlottetown was transformed into a mosaic of multiculturalism on Sunday.
The lower end of Queen Street was blocked off as thousands of Islanders and newcomers shared their traditions, art and cuisine during the DiverseCity Multicultural Street Festival hosted by the P.E.I. Association for Newcomers to Canada (P.E.I. ANC) in Charlottetown.
Artisan Moushumi Shultana, who is originally from Bangladesh, was one of more than 40 newcomer-owned businesses that showcased products at the festival.
Creating custom embroidery on dresses, bags, quilts and more, Shultana said the festival has a fond place in her heart.
In fact, it was during last year’s DiverseCity when Shultana was first inspired to share her culture through her embroidery.
“That was my first day of business, I sold something for the first time,” said Shultana, who sells her items through her Facebook page Mou’s Collections.
“Then I was introduced to some people and started going to the downtown Farmer’s Market and got a lot of positive responses. Last year was pretty good for a new business.”
Apart from allowing Shultana to share her culture and products, she said she “feels at home” during the festival.
“I really, really love it. I’m so inspired and I really love Canadian people and this multicultural environment,” she said.
Apart from products, the event also saw 24 food vendors representing a wide variety of cuisine.
There were also a number of performers representing different performances and demonstrations from music to martial arts.
Hani Mayaleh, who moved to Canada from Syria about eight years ago, gave a demonstration of playing the Arabic string instrument known as a “kanoon.”
“It’s an honour to share this in Canada actually,” said Mayaleh, who purchased the instrument while in Syria and brought it with him to Canada.
Craig Mackie, executive director of P.E.I. ANC, said the festival continued to expand this year as did the province’s newcomer population.
Mackie said last year saw the biggest intake ever for newcomers to P.E.I., with more than 2,200 arriving.
“We looked over the last 10 years and there’s been over 14,000 from more than 130 different countries,” said Mackie, who described the festival as a “feel-good day.”
“People are smiling, they’re greeting each other and they’re appreciating music, dance and food from all kinds of different cultures. It’s a microcosm of Canada.”
The day also saw vendors place donation boxes on their tables raising money for refugees in P.E.I.
Mackie said those donations will go into an emergency fund for refugee clients that may experience issues they are not covered for.
DiverseCity is P.E.I.’s largest outdoor street festival and will also see events held this year in Montague and Summerside.
The festival will take place in Montague on June 16 and in Summerside on July 30.
The event is supported by the federal departments of Canadian Heritage and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the provincial Department of Workforce and Advanced Learning, title sponsor RBC as well as the three host communities.