You can get a taste of the city’s cultural diversity this weekend.
The annual Timmins Multicultural Festival is being held Sunday, May 27 from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the McIntyre Arena. There is no set admission fee, however donations are collected at the door to help with next year’s event.
“The Timmins Multicultural Festival is a showcase of our community’s cultural diversity. It’s pretty significant in the sense that it really brings unity amongst cultures, it helps preserve and promote our cultural organizations existing in Timmins. It’s really just a great day of foods from the world and multicultural entertainment,” said organizer Helen Yaschyshyn.
The festival started in the early 1970s and still attracts a crowd every year.
Having the celebration helps preserve the community’s cultural diversity, according to Yaschyshyn.
“To preserve the organizations that exist in the city and to promote them so that they can have new members join so that the groups can get larger and have more to add to these festivals. Another thing too is it gives immigrants a sense of belonging coming into a city where they really don’t know anyone, it gives them a connection,” she said.
Sunday’s schedule is:
12:30 p.m. - Parade of Nations and official opening
1 p.m. First Nations tobacco offering, Thunder Creek drummers and singers
1:15 p.m. Nasha Rodyna Ukrainian Dance Ensemble from Sudbury
1:30 p.m. East India
1:45 p.m. Timmins Police Pipes and Drums
2 p.m. Northern Ontario School of Scottish Dance Dalriada dancers
2:15 p.m. Chinese tai chi demonstration
2:30 p.m. Celtic music with William Farquar
2:45 p.m. Ukrainian Dance with Nasha Rodyna
3 p.m. East India
3:45 Ukrainian Dance finale
The participating groups are: Indigenous First Nations, Austria, China, Croatia, Netherlands, Germany, East India, Italy, Jamaica, Scotland, South America, Chile, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Ukraine.
