Peace and Unity Festival 2.0 - Celebrating Peace, Culture and Community!
The Peace and Unity Festival was nearly a long-lost dream after the unexpected and heartbreaking shutdown of our first event held on June 29, 2024. What started out as a beautiful day ended in total shock, disbelief, anger and sadness at the discrimination that was witnessed and the resultant harm it caused to the organizers, participants, performers, vendors, volunteers and community members.The all-day event aimed to unite diverse community groups amidst global unrest, connecting struggles through culture and the arts. We could not let that dream die.
We want to thank the Beverly Heights Community League for opening their doors to us so that we could reschedule the event there. Together, on August 31, 2024, we held the Peace and Unity Festival version 2.0!
This event, hosted by Migrante Alberta, Memoria Viva Society, and the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, was an arts-focused celebration of intercultural dialogue, learning and collaboration. Bringing together artists, performers, vendors and youth from various ethno-cultural backgrounds, we sought to promote friendship, appreciation, love, learning and understanding across differences. And what a beautiful success it was! We were thrilled to have nearly a dozen vendors join us, selling jewelry, clothing, handmade goods, poetry, Indigenous beadwork, live art, and more. Many of our performers returned and throughout the afternoon and evening, we were witness to musical talent, spoken word, poetry, dance, drumming and joyful and powerful performances.
Throughout the afternoon and evening, there were moments that moved event organizers to tears. Friends who showed up together to support one another. Vendors who came back with smiles and joyful appreciation. People joined together in prayer, song and dance with open hearts and minds. Children laughed and played with each other around the venue, showing us that discrimination and hate is learned; it is not something we are born knowing. An older couple who got up and started dancing together, two hearts moving with love and in rhythm as one. Youth and women who stood and spoke their truth and raised their voices proudly in song and spoken word. The amazing Kita no Taiko drummers whose rhythms and beats you could feel at the very core of your heart and soul. Fiddlers who had you stomping your feet, clapping your hands and our friends Tzadeka and KATIITI who brought their passion and joy. This…this was what this Festival was all about, and was meant to be. To see it finally come together to reality helped in the path of healing from the events of the June 29 event.
We have so many people to thank. To the volunteers who came out in support ensured the smoothness of the two events - we wish to thank them for their time and dedication - read more in this month’s Volunteer Highlight!
To the returning and new vendors who came out, thank you for sharing your work, passions, exquisite art and beautiful culture with us all.
To the performers - thank you for supporting this Festival (both times!) and for the beautiful work and dedication you put into your crafts.
To McKerry, our sound tech - you’re amazing; thank you for creating the stage and supporting our performers throughout both events.
To Damian Abrahams and the volunteer photographers who came out to both events, thank you for capturing these memories and the spirit of this Festival for us to cherish and remember.
To the organizers and team who did not let this dream die - thank you for not giving up on this important event that truly shows what we can do when we bring together community in the spirit of peace, love and hope.
And to the community who came out in support, love, solidarity - we say thank you. Thank you for choosing to support us all, for giving us hope, and for demonstrating how we can come together and build a world where peace is possible for us all.
Check out our Photo Album from the first event held June 29: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBz6Ym
Click here to view the photos from the second event held August 31, 2024: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBGshd
Photo Credit to our volunteer photographers @cb_bais and @juanx.jon of @rulebreakers.yeg
We acknowledge and are grateful to the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta for their support for the Peace and Unity Project.
AFTERWORD:
Since June 29th, the event organizers have opened lines of communication and dialogue with different stakeholders involved in the closing.
We have sent an email to the Chief of Police’s office providing a reflection and some constructive feedback on the Edmonton Police Service’s (EPS) response. Besides a first response to an email, there has been no subsequent efforts on the part of EPS to take statements from us or to initiate dialogue about June 29th. We did get a call from the protests, rallies and demonstrations team to find out more information about the second version of the Festival in which we asked them to stay away.
While the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) engaged in one meeting following the event and promised dialogue and restoration; there has not been further action on their part. We were asked to submit a formal complaint, which we did. However then we were asked to pull out pieces of their policy that we felt were violated. We are doing our best to follow up on this additional burden as we juggle the other demands of our work.
We have not had any contact or received any correspondence from Wolf Willow Westridge Community League (WWWCL).
Read more about how organizers’ efforts to move towards healing and reparations:
If you would like to show your support, we encourage you to donate to the Peace and Unity Fund during CanadaHelps.