Five years ago, the SJ Newcomer Centre’s Culture Fest had just 20 booths, but now it has 68, and it’s continuing to grow in popularity.
“It started as a small festival and every year it continues to grow,” said Mohamed Bagda, the centre’s executive director. “It’s a big street party with lots of performances and a huge cultural village.”
Bagda said it is a good way to learn about new cultures and to see how diversity has grown in the port city.
“This is the place to be,” he said in an interview on Sunday. “You can see what Saint John is becoming. A very culturally diverse community.”
It’s the first year the Ukrainian community has a booth set up.
Many Ukrainians have fled to Canada following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Nathalia Kornecka said she has been very welcomed in Canada, and in particular, in Saint John.
“For me … it’s very important to be here with other Ukrainians and do something for Ukraine from here. I’m very glad because it’s like a piece of Ukraine in Canada,” she said.
The booth is raising money for children who remain in war-torn Ukraine.
New Canadians TV Network is also filming the final preparations and full two-days of the festival.
Gerard Keledjian is the network’s executive producer.
“It’s very important for newcomers to see this diversity, to see that there are other members of their community because some of them maybe a bit overwhelmed or nervous about moving to a new city, new country, and naturally it is a stressful experience and seeing their community is there to support and resources helps me them make the move in a more confident way,” he said.
He said there is often a lot of information for newcomers to go to the bigger metropolitan cities, but not places like Saint John.
The piece aims to showcase it and will be online in the next few days and on TV in a few weeks.
Overall, on Saturday, the SJ Newcomer Centre said approximately 4,000 people attended, and it is expected to be one of the biggest Culture Fest events to date.
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