Warm embrace

A celebration for all

The fact that Truro is quickly becoming a community of ever-growing diversity was more than evident during the Embrace Festival celebration that was held Saturday.

This year’s Embrace Festival was another feather in the cap for an increasingly diverse town, say organizers.

The event featured a Bollywood-inspired dancing group and henna painting, reflecting the increasing number of Indian Canadians who call Truro home. People also enjoyed traditional First Nations dancing and a reading by African Nova Scotian poet El Jones, among other activities.

“I definitely feel like we’re able to bring in more groups,” said administration and event co-ordinator Josee Gallant at the Town of Truro. “The town is definitely growing, you can tell, with a lot more festivals and concerts happening.”

She added roughly 200 people showed up for the one-day festival Saturday, about the same as last year.

Organizers were unable to line up the Maritime Bhangra Group again this year, who Gallant described as “an internet sensation.”

For next year, the town plans to make the Embrace Festival a twoday event once again. The 2018 festival was kept to a single day as organizers did not want it to clash with the Lincolns concert, held at the Truro Legion Friday night.

Gallant also expressed hope that the recently-arrived Syrian families in Colchester County will take part in next year’s festival, but their influence is already being felt. Antigonish-based Peace by Chocolate, founded by the Hadhad family, already has products on sale locally and the company is now famous worldwide.

The Truro area is home to an increasingly varied population, including residents of Chinese, Indian, Arab, African and other Asian and European backgrounds, as well as its original First Nations inhabitants.

Truro’s mix is further enhanced by international students enrolled at Dalhousie Agricultural Campus in Bible Hill and Nova Scotia Community College’s Truro campus.