PHOTOS: Sunfest celebrates 30 years of bringing the world to London
From the sounds of Brazilian samba rock to the tastes of Salvadorian pupusas, London's favourite world music festival is back to celebrate its 30th year.
The free world music festival runs until Sunday in Victoria Park
Crowds dance to the music of Senegalese musician Cheikh Ibra Fam on Thursday night at Sunfest. (Michelle Both/CBC)
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From the sounds of Brazilian samba rock to the tastes of Salvadorian pupusas, London's favourite world music festival is back to celebrate its 30th year.
Sunfest is bringing a diversity of flavours, art and music to the city, attracting thousands of spectators to enjoy more than 200 food and artisan vendors and nearly 50 performers from around the world and across Canada.
The four-day free festival runs from July 4 to 7 in London's Victoria Park.
"This is our largest lineup every in the history of the festival," said Alfredo Caxaj, Sunfest's founder and co-artistic director.
"When you see families from all over the world come in — different colours, races, languages, such different social and economic status coming together and celebrating: this is the most beautiful thing," he said.
This year the festival has added a new beer garden area, a new stage and additional food area to honour of the three-decade milestone, he said.
"When we started, we wanted the festival to reflect what this country is all about: cultural diversity. And this is exactly what we're doing through the vehicle of music. We truly believe live music is one of the most amazing, incredible vehicles of bringing people together," he said.
LISTEN: Sunfest marks 30 years of multicultural fun in London
7:36Sunfest marks 30 years of multicultural fun in London
Sunfest is London’s free, four-day world music festival, that brings vibrant music, art and food from around the world to its thousands of attendees. Michelle Both checks in on the many people organizing the event just ahead of its launch.
PHOTOS:
This year marks 30 years of Sunfest, says Alfredo Caxaj, the festival's co-artistic director, and with the anniversary comes the 'largest lineup ever in the history of the festival.' (Michelle Both/CBC London)
Sunfest is a 'place like no other in Canada,' says Jennifer Grant from Irie Bites Cafe in London. She's cooking up oxtail, jerk chicken, curry chicken and more for the crowds at Sunfest this year. (Michelle Both/CBC)
The family team behind Miluz Art, sterling silver jewellery, came from St. Jacob's for the events. Colombian-Canadian Miluz Olenky Romero stands with Luz Maria Rodriguez and 11-year-old Sophie Ostau Delafont. (Michelle Both/CBC)
Sunfest is 'Christmas in London' for Thomas Amoah, who first started selling products at the festival 30 years ago. It's grown tremendously since then, he says. (Michelle Both/CBC)
Toronto-based Kazdoura performs their Arabic-fusion music on Sunfest's main stage Thursday evening. (Michelle Both/CBC)
Of all the Latin American food Ana Rodriguez will be making this weekend, pupusas, made with corn, pork and cheese, are her favourite, she says. She's cooking up tacos, tostadas, flautas, empanadas and more with Los Comales. (Michelle Both/CBC)
Selling natural hair and skin products is a family operation for Junior Lushane, Shane and Lashelle Mullings, who set up shop at this year's Sunfest with their business, 876 Hair & Skin. (Michelle Both/CBC)
Spectators get their groove on taking in the music of Brazilian-Canadian singer Bruno Capinan Thursday night at Sunfest. (Michelle Both/CBC)
Jonaa White-Eye and Lily Wankomo work with Antler River Trading Company, an Indigenous apparel business based out of Chippewas of the Thames First Nation. (Michelle Both/CBC)
The crowds and excitement are what draw Emy Yuksel to Sunfest, who sells custom jewellery and Turkish art under the business Bijoulstanbul. (Michelle Both/CBC)
More than 200 vendors set up their wares at this year's Sunfest for thousands of festival-goers to take in. (Michelle Both/CBC)
Michelle Both is the producer for CBC's Afternoon Drive in London and Windsor. She holds a master's degree in journalism and communication from Western University. You can reach her at michelle.both@cbc.ca.
