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Muslim festival Eid ul-Fitr is little celebrated in Vancouver, but Sarah Zafar and her fellow volunteers are aiming to change that. On June 17, they are organizing Vancouver’s first ever Eid ul-Fitr Festival. It’s Muslim tradition with a Vancouver twist. “This is one of the Islamic celebrations [for] all Muslims around the world. It’s a…
With its Cyrillic alphabet, the Russian language is one of the most complicated to learn. But, as Inna Mikailov and Stan Kriventsov explain, many Vancouverites speak Russian − and they’re not all from Russia. June 6th, Russian Language Day, marks the beginning of a summer of events designed to unite Russian language speakers in Vancouver.…
The cedar tree has been a familiar figure for First Nations communities for a long time. The tree, believed to be a gift from Mother Nature, provides people with tools for their survival. On June 3, Port Moody ecological society will hold a cedar weaving workshop with Tsawaysia Alice Guss at Port Moody Centre. Participants…
Michael Schwartz is exploring early Jewish history, as well as other cultural histories, in Vancouver with the Historic Walking Tours, a program put on by the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia. “Jews have been in B.C. for over 150 years. Longer than Vancouver has been a city,” says Schwartz, a Vancouver native who…
What is Canada’s food policy and how does it represent Indigenous people? Food sovereignty in Canada has gained public interest as Indigenous groups reinforce their land rights and title. “Indigenous food sovereignty has become an important and distinct category in Canadian food sovereignty,” says Tonya Smith, a research graduate at the University of British Columbia…
3E Organization is hosting Together Towards Tomorrow: Shaping the Future, a hands-on seminar that aims to engage youth and women to be proactive and learn from specialists in particular professions. It will take place on May 9 at the Surrey City Centre Library. “The 3Es mean to engage, enable and empower,” says Reena Singh, 3E…
Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre is offering KIZUNA: Japanese Culture in English, a program that spans from May to July with varying themes, from language to culture, for everyone to participate in. Leading the conversation of Japanese culture course at Nikkei’s cultural centre, instructor Yoriko Gillard shares what will happen during the workshops and talk…
The Scandinavian Cultural Society is organizing its annual Nordic Spirit Heritage Images Exhibit at the Scandinavian Community Centre. The exhibit will move to the Gulf of Georgia Cannery in Steveston on May 5 before returning to the Scandinavian Community Centre. This year’s exhibit will focus on early Scandinavian-Canadian fishing activities in BC. “The immigrants who…
Cicely Blain is an artist at heart yet she wears many hats including consultant, facilitator, writer − not least of which is as a social activist, who played a major role in 2016 Vancouver’s ‘Black Lives Matter.’ The British consultant launches a series of talks engaging Vancouverites on social change − focusing on equality, diversity…
Libby Griffin has a story to tell about her Ukrainian heritage, and she hopes all Canadians will listen. Ukrainian settlers helped make Canada the place we know today, says Griffin, who has long been involved with Ukrainian communities in Vancouver and in her small hometown of Voland, near Peace River, Alberta. But little is known…
In celebration of cultural diversity in Canada, Coquitlam Public Library will be holding a crafting event for families on Mar. 10, 2018 at the City Centre branch. The event, Persian New Year Family Craft Program, will have fun activities all while promoting cultural learning. Aiding the search for more information on Nowruz, Parsa Kiani, 4th…
Later this month, the Vancouver Heritage Foundation will be hosting Heritage Week 2018, an annual series of events that honours and shares the rich history of our city. One of the upcoming events is Sunday Morning at Punjabi Market, which will be an opportunity to learn about the history of South Asians in Vancouver, take…
February is Black History month, giving an opportunity to discover the rich history of Black Canadians in British Columbia. According to the BC Black History Awareness Society (BCBHAS), the first recorded Black person in Canada was an African who went by the name Mathieu de Coste. Coste worked as an interpreter of the Mi’kmaq language.…
