‘What makes us different makes us strong’: Westside multiculturalism day draws crowds
Westside Multiculturalism Day is an event dedicated to celebrating Canada’s cultural mosaic.
The event is hosted each year by the Westbank Museum in West Kelowna, and has grown significantly since it was created in 2022. This year it’s been moved to Memorial Park to accommodate more people and performances.
“It’s important in this day and age to understand that what makes us different makes us strong,” said Brenden Studer, event organizer.
“It’s really cool to be able to explore and give people the opportunity to come and experience cultures that they may not have otherwise.”
Last year, there were 20 cultures represented at the event. This year there were 30.
“It’s a collaborative effort. It’s not just the Westbank museum telling the different groups what to do. It is input from them that’s making the event bigger and better every year,” Studer said.
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One of the volunteers at the Armenian booth, Krikor Yaghdjian, was teaching people about that country.
“(I am teaching people) the history of Armenia which is more than 5,000 years old and Armenia was the first nation as a nation to adopt Christianity in 301 A.D.,” Yaghdjian said.
“We are telling them about our language, our alphabet and we are [answering] whatever questions they have.”
At the Bibak Okanagan tent, visitors can learn about the Indigenous people of the Philippines who live in the Okanagan. The website for Bibak Okanagan states that Bibak is an acronym for the Cordillera provinces of the country: Benguet, Ifugao, Bontoc/Mountain Province, Kalinga and Apayao.
“I am from in the Philippines, the northern part [Ifugao],” said Brendalyn Belbin, who volunteered her time at the booth.
She described a game played in her community called Sungka. “There are two players that play this one and whichever one has the most beans at the end is the winner.”
Throughout the festival, hundreds of people enjoyed all kinds of performances, workshops and activities from more than 30 different community groups.