The Guelph & District Multicultural Festival will hopefully be outdoors and online this year.
When the 33rd annual Guelph & District Multicultural Festival was cancelled due to the pandemic last year, those running the program immediately shifted their focus to bring the festival — that attracts nearly 25,000 people — online.
They used the funds available to launch an online platform that showcases Guelph’s talented performers and vendors (past and present) while working around the limitations of the pandemic.
This year, GDMF will host a three-day online event from March 26 to March 28 to use the funding provided last summer. This summer’s festival, if it's possible to hold it, will be a combination of online and in-person celebrations. The online event will showcase businesses and local talent for free.
“Because we gave a whole year’s space, we felt so unengaged with the community. So this is the reason why we want to reconnect with the community,” said Cinthuja Leon, executive director of the GDMF.
“We want all the vendors and performers to feel like this is another opportunity to market our products.”
Leon said the website will not only provide information about the annual event but will also offer a glimpse of past festivals through photographs. It will also serve as an information hub for diversity and inclusion activities in Guelph.
Leon said the online platform will be in line with the festival’s mission which has always been to allow multicultural groups to express their traditions in different art forms.
“In the past, they had a booth where they were able to come to the festival and showcase. Now, we’re going to make it virtual, we will have a space in the booth to showcase their products,” said Leon.
She said it is too early to tell how many people will be able to attend the in-person event usually held in the second week of June.
“We are still waiting on the announcement from the city as to how many people they will allow for the in-person event,” said Leon.
“Based on what the city will allow, we will have a combination of online and in person. It may not be as large but we will try to accommodate some activities.”
Leon said Canadian Heritage funding, the City of Guelph, and United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin together have been the rock supporting the GDMF.
“We were lucky that so many people supported us. We are so grateful to the community members who were so supportive in helping us create the platform,” said Leon.
