New Canadians Centre Launches Inaugural Week-Long Canadian Multiculturalism Festival

In honour of Canadian Multiculturalism Day on June 27, the New Canadians Centre (NCC) is organizing a week-long inaugural Canadian Multiculturalism Festival in Peterborough beginning Monday to June 27 announced Wednesday morning.

(from left to right) Andy Cragg, NCC executive director; Zebiba Sultan; Brisham Ramoutar, NCC communications and community engagement specialist and Hilary Flood, DBIA communications and marketing manager. Flood samples Ethiopian cuisine made by Sultan. The vegetarian dish contains red lentils, split peas, beets and a salad atop a large piece of injera (Ethiopian sour flatbread).

The festival aims to display multiculturalism within Peterborough through performance, storytelling, film and food.

“Celebrating multiculturalism in Peterborough creates community and helps people to feel like they belong,” says Andy Cragg, Executive Director. “We are proud to showcase the richness of experience in our community. It’s an underappreciated and unrecognized day in Canada.”

A food crawl with six downtown restaurants can earn you tickets towards Boro gift cards. Every $10 you spent from June 20 - July 1, gets anyone a stamp towards a Multicultural Food Passport. Collecting six earns a draw for the gift cards and participants do not have to visit all six restaurants to earn an entry.

Stamps and passports are available at the NCC or the following restaurants:

  • Curry Mantra

  • Levantine Grill

  • Hanoi House

  • Real Thai Cuisine

  • Dirty Burger

  • Milk + Tea

“Downtown Peterborough is a culinary hotspot for multicultural cuisine in the region,” said Hillary Flood, Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area communications and marketing manager. “We are so excited to be partnering with the New Canadians Centre for the Canadian Multiculturalism Festival to acknowledge and celebrate the significant contributions of our international cuisine and newcomer-owned restaurants and how they have shaped our culinary fabric downtown."

The following is a list of events occurring throughout the week:

Flavours of the World Sampling Day

All six restaurant will offer free samples of their food on June 25 between noon and 7 p.m.

Try It Series

The community can get their feet wet and participate in music, dance, cooking and sports from across the world:

  • Indian Spices - Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the NCC

  • Peruvian Flower Making - Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the NCC

  • Taekwondo - Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at King Edward Park

  • Ethiopian Cooking - June 23, 6 p.m. via Zoom with Zebiba Sultan (ingredient kits can be obtained at the NCC from Monday to next Wednesday)

  • Zumba - June 24, 6 p.m. at the Silver Bean Patio (Millennium Park) by Dianely Hernandez

Anyone can register online at the NCC website to participate.

Cultural Fusions Video Series

Films are showcased to Dancers and musicians’ craft and culture with two films, “The Story Won’t Die + The Magic of Beginnings” and The Magic of Beginnings.

The former is about a Syrian rapper, tortured by Bashar Al-Assad for his lyrics, who uses his music to survive one of our century's deadliest wars.

The story of revolution and exile in a new documentary reflects a global battle for peace, justice and freedom of expression.

The Magic of Beginnings is about a local English-as-a-second-language teacher that learns Arabic to make the newcomers in her class feel at home.

Anyone can register online from the NCC’s website for a link to view the films online for free between Monday and June 27.

Building A Home Book Reading & Activities

On June 26 at 2 p.m., author & illustrator Casandra Lee will read her children’s book “Building A Home” followed by some creative art-based activities for children and families.

The book is about six children from Syria, Kazakhstan, Mexico, and Pakistan who are now living, playing, and going to school in Nogojiwanong-Peterborough. The book was commissioned and published by the New Canadians Centre.

Multiculturalism Panel

The final da features a Canadian Multiculturalism Festival event at a panel discussion with Trent Professors Mohmin Rahman and Feyzi Baban and Cragg.

Discussions include immigration in Canada, local responses to immigration and perspectives on multiculturalism in Canada and Europe.

Each year, the NCC supports over 1000 clients hailing from over 100 countries and speaking more than 70 different languages. In 2021, the NCC saw a record-breaking number of immigrants come to their facility according to Cragg.

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