The Heritage Festival at the Rec. Centre brought many in the community together, attracting a large crowd, with a broad selection of attractions ranging from informative cultural exhibits, to noteworthy musical presentations. The festival had over 500 guests in attendance, filling up the Rec. Centre and keeping things busy for the duration of the event.
Exhibits featured aspects of cultures from all over the world, and focused on things like Ukrainian Pysanka-style Easter egg crafting, Japanese martial arts, traditional rug making, and samples of foods from all over the world. The food samples in particular, were a big hit, attracting a large crowd in long lines, eager to try the sample-sized portions, which were distributed to those who bought tickets available at the door.
“It’s wonderful to bring so much history, and so many different cultures together under one roof,” said Pearl Kroon, a curator for the historical exhibit focused on the Victoria Settlement, a provincial historical site south of Smoky Lake.
Kroon explains that the Victoria Settlement in particular, was a former Methodist mission for the Cree that lived in the Smoky Lake Region in 1862. One of the features of that exhibit was an old-fashioned top that Kroon was not at all hesitant to demonstrate to the curious.
Nearby, an interactive exhibit featured a number of Ukrainian cultural objects of interest – including the hands-on activity of preparing traditional Pysanka Easter eggs. Guests were encouraged to sit down and prepare the eggs using traditional wax etching and dying methods.
“The color of the dye, and the patterns on the egg were often symbolic,” explains Lloyanne Yaremko-Galas, the curator of the Ukrainian exhibit. “Sometimes the circle-designs represented infinity, the dots could represent the tears of the Virgin Mary. When Christianity was brought to Ukraine, the designs changed to reflect that shift.”
She adds, “The beeswax designs and dyes are put on raw eggs, but if the design is memorable, we syringe out the contents of the egg, and hollow it out to preserve it. We’ve been busy all afternoon, here – this has been a really popular exhibit.”
The Royal Canadian Legion, and Mallaig Army Cadets also had exhibits set up, showing a number of informative pieces on military history, and on the Legion itself. “There’s been a lot of good feedback – kids love the hands on approach and the model exhibits,” explains Lori Drolet, a representative for the Mallaig cadets. “It’s good to let people know what we’re doing next with cadet trips and the Interpretive Centre, and where we are with our fundraising,” continues Drolet.
“It’s a great time – absolutely fantastic, “said Annette Trimble, a guest at the Heritage Festival. “It’s well-run, the food is wonderful – it couldn’t be better. I hope they do it again, as it’s made me feel younger.”
“We’ve seen a huge increase from last year,” says Maggie Cartier, a program assistant with St. Paul FCSS. “Last year we only saw around 345 people come out, whereas this year there’ve been over 500 guests. “I’m glad we used the bigger venue with the Rec. Center this time around.”
“It’s been absolutely phenomenal – the entertainers, the food, the vendors, they were all great. Everyone working together was very flexible and patient with the schedule, and it was a great event to organize.”
She adds, “We’re proud of the community – it’s great to see all the different cultures present in St. Paul together, and showcased like that. Even during the festival itself, people came up to us and gave us a whole lot of good feedback.”
Cartier explains that FCSS is already working on ideas and plans for next year’s Heritage Festival. A number of new participants and ones who were present at this year’s festival are already planning on coming next year.
“There are a lot of people from neighbouring communities who made it out, and plan to come back next year,” says Cartier. “The Rug Hooker’s Guild was from Edmonton, the sushi vendors were from Cold Lake – people were coming in from all over the place. It’s nice to see that we’ve got the whole Lakeland area involved – the festival is growing.”
She adds, “I’d like to thank local businesses and volunteers for their support – they did an amazing job, and events like the Heritage Festival need them to be as successful as the festival was this year.”
