Et Cetera

Richmond World Festival celebrates cultures from around the globe

by Charlie Smith on September 5th, 2015 at 9:23 PM
    1 of 9 2 of 9

      Poetry slams, an open-air concert, and an international food truck festival...yes, the City of Richmond displayed its hip and progressive side at Minoru Park today.

      It was all part of the first Richmond World Festival and it attracted a large crowd for performers  Matt & Kim, Alex Cuba, En Karma, and the Kara-Kata Afrobeat Group.

      There was also an artisan market, sports events from around the world, the Your Kontinent Digital Carnival, and a Global Village with a series of cultural exhibits.

      They included Chinese paintings showing the last five Northern White Rhinos.

      Vancouver Cantonese Opera put on a display of costumes inside the Global Village tent.

      There's a widespread perception that Richmond has attracted mostly Chinese immigrants but in fact, it's a very diverse city.

      Research by UBC geographer Dan Hiebert has broken down regional census data to show that within each microcommunity of 650 people in Richmond, there is an average of 17 ethnic groups.

      Part of the Minoru Park pitch was converted into a dance floor.
      Richmond's flat terrain is ideal for cycling.
      Spoken-word poet Matt Loeb entertained the crowd with his nerdy observations.
      Richmond mayor Malcolm Brodie was on-hand to celebrate the diversity in his city.
      These kids had more padding than your average NHL goalie.
      The winner is...well, it's hard to tell with all that gear.
      It wouldn't be a festival without food trucks.

      Comments

      1 Comments

      great time

      Sep 6, 2015 at 1:24pm

      my wife and I took our two young sons to the festival. there was fun and interesting things going on everywhere, and the food carts were awesome. I don't listen to bhangra but En Karma were definitely putting on a good show. cultural festivals like these are a great reminder that were all human beings and we should ignore the negative shite we read in the media. I will definitely go if they have another festival next year.