Saint John Culture Fest showcases increasing diversity in the port city – New Brunswick | 24CA News
Five years in the past, the SJ Newcomer Centre’s Culture Fest had simply 20 cubicles, however now it has 68, and it’s persevering with to develop in reputation.
“It started as a small festival and every year it continues to grow,” mentioned Mohamed Bagda, the centre’s government director. “It’s a big street party with lots of performances and a huge cultural village.”
Bagda mentioned it’s a good solution to find out about new cultures and to see how variety has grown within the port metropolis.
The cultural competition included Ukraine for the primary time this 12 months, one thing the neighborhood is grateful for as struggle continues in Ukraine.
Nathalie Sturgeon / Global News
“This is the place to be,” he mentioned in an interview on Sunday. “You can see what Saint John is becoming. A very culturally diverse community.”
It’s the primary 12 months the Ukrainian neighborhood has a sales space arrange.
Many Ukrainians have fled to Canada following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Nathalia Kornecka mentioned she has been very welcomed in Canada, and particularly, in Saint John.
“For me … it’s very important to be here with other Ukrainians and do something for Ukraine from here. I’m very glad because it’s like a piece of Ukraine in Canada,” she mentioned.
The sales space is elevating cash for kids who stay in war-torn Ukraine.
New Canadians TV Network can be filming the ultimate preparations and full two-days of the competition.
Gerard Keledjian is the community’s government producer.
“It’s very important for newcomers to see this diversity, to see that there are other members of their community because some of them maybe a bit overwhelmed or nervous about moving to a new city, new country, and naturally it is a stressful experience and seeing their community is there to support and resources helps me them make the move in a more confident way,” he mentioned.
He mentioned there’s typically a variety of info for newcomers to go to the larger metropolitan cities, however not locations like Saint John.
The piece goals to showcase it and will likely be on-line within the subsequent few days and on TV in a number of weeks.
Overall, on Saturday, the SJ Newcomer Centre mentioned roughly 4,000 folks attended, and it’s anticipated to be one of many greatest Culture Fest occasions thus far.
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