Canadian Multicultural Festival 2022

June 27 is Canadian Multiculturalism Day. It is a day to celebrate the contributions of the diverse cultures that make up our home on Turtle Island, Canada. The day was first commemorated in 2003.

From June 20 to 27, the New Canadians Centre (NCC) will be organising the first Canadian Multiculturalism Festival in Nogojiwanong-Peterborough. Each year, the NCC supports over 1000 clients hailing from over 100 countries and speaking more than 70 different languages. Each of them brings unique customs, music, dance, food, sports, and stories contributing to a vibrant community.

We invite you to join us for a week of programming that tells a story of our multicultural Peterborough through performance, storytelling, film, and food.

Try It Series...

Try your hand at music, dance, cooking, sports, and crafts from across the world facilitated by experts in the community and newcomers who share a love of their cultural traditions.

Try It Intro to Indian Spices - June 21 @ 1:00pm

Try It Peruvian Flower Making - June 21 @ 5:30pm

Try It Taekwondo - June 22 @ 5:30pm

Try It Ethiopian Cooking - June 23 @ 6pm

**This activity is now full. Please email [email protected] to be added to the waitlist.

Food Brings People Together! And Ethiopians know this all too well! Join Zebiba Sultan of the New Canadians Centre for a virtual cooking class where you will learn how to make and plate a popular vegetarian Ethiopian dish.

Meal kits will be provided and available for pick up at the New Canadians Centre on June 20, 21, and 22.

Virtual via Zoom

Thursday, June 23
6:00 to 7:30pm

Try It Zumba - June 24 @ 6:00pm

Multicultural Food Crawl & Sampling Day

Taste the flavours of the world at our 6 featured international restaurants in downtown Peterborough!

Pick up a Multicultural Food Passport at any of these participating restaurants and for every $10 you spend from June 20 to July 1, you'll earn a stamp in your passport. Collect six stamps and you'll be entered into a draw to win one of two $250 Downtown Dollars.

On June 25, visit each of these participating restaurants to try free samples of some of their menu items (12 to 7pm, while supplies last).

Curry Mantra

Curry Mantra
All our dishes are made from authentic ingredients, some specially imported from the Mangalore where they were first made by our ancestors. We believe in making our dishes in a true, home-style fashion. We do not use any pre-mixed sauces, artificial flavourings, additives or colours. The vivid colours and aromatic smells of our food come from the freshest ingredients and spices available.

360 George St N, Peterborough
(Inside the Peterborough Square Mall)

Website

The Dirty Burger Company

Dirty Burger
The Dirty Burger Company is bringing a new vibe to Peterborough’s atmosphere. Om’s Favourite meal is a Cheeseburger with fries. Why not make it even better with a fresh and delicious burger made by a team of professional chefs. From as little details as where the potatoes come from to how the beef is raised Om is focused on giving his customers the greatest meal, that they ever have tasted. With an Indian/Ugandan Heritage and culinary influences from his culture allows him to experiment with delicious vegetarian options for anyone interested in flavor. We are dedicated in providing good food to great people. Enjoy!

211 Hunter St. W, Peterborough

Website

Hanoi House

Levantine Grill

Levantine Grill
Salam, Peterborough! Welcome to our home away from home, where the sun rises each day with the flavours of the Euphrates, and the abundant gifts or the Damascus Bazars & Aleppo Souks. Influenced by out hometown, we adopted our name "Levantine" which is the word that describes people who come from the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Here, at Levantine Grill we gather - family, friends, and dear guests, to experience the rewarding taste of home eatery and the exquisite varieties of Mediterranean cuisine.

356 Charlotte St., Peterborough

Website

Milk + Tea

Real Thai Cuisine

Real Thai Cuisine
Savour the flavourful dishes with the use of only the freshest of ingredients and those imported from Thailand. Its rich textures and aromatic qualities are easily identifiable and what gives Thai food its distinctive character is a harmony in its tastes. The traditional taste of Thai food lies in the combination of four key tastes; sweet, salty, sour and bitter which balance together to give you its exquisite taste. In Thai cooking, specific herbs are used, such as lemongrass, kaffir lime, galangal, Thai basil and mint along with pastes such as nam pla (fish paste). It is our belief that as long as we continue this creativity in creating this extraordinary culinary and cultural experience for our guests, we will accomplish our goal.

415 George Street N, Peterborough

Website

Panel Discussion

Join us on Canadian Multiculturalism Day and for the close our Canadian Multiculturalism Festival for a panel discussion with Trent Professors Mohmin Rahman and Feyzi Baban and NCC Executive Director Andy Cragg. They will discuss immigration in Canada, local responses to immigration, and perspectives on multiculturalism in Canada and Europe. The panel will be moderated by Professor Deborah Berrill.

Monday, June 27, 2022, 12:00 - 1:30pm

Moderator: Professor Deborah Berril

The panel will be moderated by Professor Deborah Berrill. Deborah is a Professor Emeritus at Trent University where, following twenty years with the Queen’s Faculty of Education, she founded the Trent School of Education and Professional Learning, known for its commitment to social justice and inclusion. Deborah has won multiple higher education teaching awards at the local, provincial and national levels and she was the first recipient of the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario’s Educator of the Year Award. She also worked for over 20 years with a First Nation community on community-based literacy initiatives. Most recently she has been very involved with sponsorship and resettlement of refugees, including with the Trent University WUSC Student Refugee Program. She is continually humbled and inspired by newcomers to Canada.

Panelist: Andy Cragg

Andy Cragg, Executive Director of the New Canadians Centre

Andy’s Master’s thesis focused on Canadian immigration policy and Canada’s temporary foreign worker program.

Presentation Title/Abstract: Reflections on the state of immigration and multiculturalism in Canada and Peterborough in 2022.

Andy will share general demographic and immigration statistics, including an aging population, the shift in “source countries” for immigrants over the last 50 years, the “racialization” of the Canadian population, the impact on “cultural integration” of this shift, and pushback in the form of racism amidst a persistent majority support for immigration and multiculturalism. He will also share some perspectives from his experience of this at the New Canadians Centre in terms of programs and services.

Panelist: Professor Momin Rahman

Professor Momin Rahman
Momin Rahman is a Professor of Sociology at Trent and teaches a course on Ethnicities, Racism and Multiculturalism, focused on Canada. His main research areas are on queer Muslim identities, systemic racism and Islamophobia. In the past, he has also served on the Board of Directors of the Community Race Relations Committee.

Presentation Title/Abstract: From Dominance to Dependence: immigration as the new normal in Canada and the implications for a white-centred multiculturalism

Momin will talk about the increasing rates of immigration over the last half century and ask us to reflect on how that labour market driven need impacts our understanding of multiculturalism. He will discuss the shift in multiculturalism from a management of settler Anglo and French relations towards a multi-ethnic and multi-racial set of values and practices that have brought to light patterns of systemic racism in Canada, as well as hinting at the economic dependence of traditional settler cultures on new Canadians. Together with the impacts of Truth and Reconciliation, he asks whether these movements help us to ‘see’ the normalization of whiteness in our culture and also whether we can navigate this de-centring of a white norm without falling prey to ethno-nationalist resentments and violence.

Panelist: Professor Feyzi Baban

Professor Feyzi Baban
Feyzi Baban is a professor of Political Studies and International Development at Trent University. His research interests include critical migration studies, cosmopolitanism, citizenship studies and multiculturalism.

Title/Abstract: Many lives of Multiculturalism: European and Canadian Experiences

Feyzi's talk will discuss multiple meanings of multiculturalism to discuss divergent paths of this elusive concept in various European countries and Canada. While Canada has long embraced multiculturalism as part of its social contract, there is much more skepticism in Europe about multiculturalism’s ability to foster societal unity. His talk will discuss various European experiences and explain why European attitudes towards multiculturalism differ from the Canadian experience.

Film Screening

In partnership with ReFrame Film Festival, we bring you a free screening two films: "The Story Won't Die" and "The Magic of Beginnings"

Available for free streaming for one week from June 20 to 27.

"The Story Won't Die"

The Story Won't Die
(83 minutes, USA, Germany, Denmark, 2021)
Editor: Christopher Robin Bell, David Henry Gerson

A Syrian rapper, tortured by Bashar Al-Assad for his lyrics, uses his music to survive one of our century's deadliest wars. Together with other creative personalities of the Syrian uprising, a Post-Rock musician, a breakdancer, and visual artists, they tell us their story of revolution and exile in a new documentary reflecting on a global battle for peace, justice and freedom of expression.

"The Magic of Beginnings"

Watch Now

"Building A Home" Book Reading & Art

Join author & illustrator Casandra Lee for a reading of her children’s book “Building A Home” followed by some creative art-based activities for children and families.

Building A Home takes us on the journeys of 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 in September 2021.

Please note: this event was originally scheduled for Sunday, June 26 but has been postponed due to forecasted inclement weather. We will reschedule this event for July or early August.

Cultural Fusions Video Series

Bringing dancers and musicians from different countries together to create unique pieces that showcase their craft and cultures.

Watch our social media for the screening of their performances in July!

Support for this Festival was provided by: