August 16, 2014
Coco Seitz opens the Festival with Mayor Stetski awaiting his turn at the microphone. |
Thank you for
being here – this is an important and exciting day!
When I was
running for Mayor three years ago, I spent a lot of time thinking about the
kind of Cranbrook I wanted to live in, and to help create. One of the most important aspects was a
community that truly values and celebrates the arts and multi-culturalism.
Last August the
Arts Council held its first Arts in the Park event and it is happening again
next Saturday, August 23rd here in Rotary Park. Today you are part of Cranbrook’s history by
participating in our first ever multi-cultural festival!
It’s been an
interesting progression. The Ktunaxa
First Nation, whose traditional territory we are standing on today, have been
sharing their culture with us for a number of years through storytelling,
drumming, dancing and singing.
The Metis, who
have the second longest connection with the land in Canada, have been very
active the last three years celebrating their heritage at City Hall and in the
community – it’s impossible to keep your toes from tapping when the fiddlers
are playing and the dancers jigging!
The Filipino
community has also played an important role in the last two years, sharing
their dances, their colorful fashions, their music and their food, along with
celebrating their Independence Day.
It has been such
a pleasure to get to know all of these great people and to learn more about
their cultures. Why not bring them all
together and encourage other citizens with an interest in their cultures to
participate?
Early this year I
got a phone call from Coco Seitz who had read in the newspaper of my interest
in having a multi-cultural festival in Cranbrook. She asked to have a meeting.
When we sat down she presented me with a detailed proposal for a
festival. We came up with a list of people
to contact, a meeting was held, a Society formed, fund raising commenced and
today, due to a lot of hard work that I cannot take any credit for at all, we
are celebrating Cranbrook’s first ever multi-cultural festival featuring a
dozen cultures:
1. Chinese
2. Japanese
3. Korean
4. Indian
5. Filipino
6. Italian
7. Dutch
8. South African
9. Vietnamese
10. Ktunaxa
11. Metis
12. Canadian
Having a festival
like this is important from many aspects:
1. It enriches our community
– you’ll see today how many ways it does that.
2. It makes a clear statement
that Cranbrook is a welcoming place to live.
3. It contributes to
promoting tourism and the economy.
So are we done –
No, we are just beginning. Today we are
celebrating 12 cultures – there are 196 countries in the world if you include
Taiwan – so yes, there is definitely room for
growth, and there will be even bigger festivals in the future!!
Thank you to all
of you who made this festival happen and for those of you who are here to enjoy
the day. For me, this really is a dream
come true.
Mayor Wayne
Stetski,
City of Cranbrook
Congrats to all involved. These are activities that make Cranbrook a more livable community, and ones the mayor should support, as Wayne does.
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