By Jennifer Colbourne (The Cascade) – Email
Photos by Basil Stevens (Contributor)
Print Edition: September 25, 2013
While Chinese sword dancing, Latin music, belly dancing, Sun Hang Do, and fashion may not seem to have a lot in common, they were all sights to be found at the sixth annual Abby Fest this year.
Held September 21 at the Ag Rec building at Exhibition Park, this free community event brought together a diverse range of cultural performances and international foods. Also present were a number of booths from socio-cultural groups such as the Afro-Canadian Positive Network, the Scandinavian Club, and the Abby Islamic Centre.
UFV had a particularly strong presence at the festival, including a fashion and dance event put on by the International Department. Various countries were represented in a number of performances, including Japan, Brazil, China, China, Palestine, Korea, and India.
Cathren Isid, a UFV business student, was excited to model a traditional Palestinian bridal outfit, worn the evening before a wedding.
“I’m an international student mentor, so I heard about it and I joined up… [It’s important to celebrate multiculturalism] because we live in a diverse community and we can learn about each other’s cultures,” she explained, adding that she has always found Abbotsford to be “very accepting” as a community.
UFV’s student radio station was also at Abby Fest. Station manager Aaron Levy stated “CIVL has a booth here and we’re excited to promote our Abby Heat initiative—broadcasting their full season of home and away games for the first time—and we’re giving away tickets. And we’re supporting multiculturalism because we have six different languages on CIVL that we broadcast every week: Punjabi, Hindu, Spanish, Mandarin, Polish, and, of course, English.”
At the UFV ESL booth, ESL department head Maria Bos-Chan pointed to the significance of UFV’s involvement at Abby Fest.
“I think it’s really important for UFV to be involved with Abby Fest because we’re part of the community of Abbotsford – it’s a very diverse community, and we reflect part of that diversity as well… It’s always great to come back here every year.” She noted that the event was smaller than usual, “but hopefully it will pick up again next year.”
According to Basil Stevens, vice president of the Abbotsford Multicultural Society that puts on Abby Fest, the event was reduced compared to previous years.
“This is sort of a rebuilding year, [so] it’s a bit smaller than previous years. We have a completely new core group – we’re going to sit down next month and put together a five year plan and put some things into place so that next year will be bigger and better, and we’re going to grow.”
Expanding the event is important to Stevens.
“It promotes understanding among the various cultures. It brings people together, and it’s a free event – so what’s the excuse for not coming down? I enjoy it. This is my sixth year with it and I’ve enjoyed every year,” he said.
