Thousands flock to DiverseCity Festival in its return to Charlottetown
Festival will tour other parts of P.E.I. in next few weeks
The DiverseCity Festival was back in full force this weekend in Charlottetown.
Thousands of Islanders came out Sunday to the event that aims to celebrate diversity by featuring performances by artists of varied cultural backgrounds.
People from the local Mi'kmaw and Ukrainian communities were among those who performed. There were also songs and dances from India, Vietnam, China, Latin America, the Caribbean and other places.
"It feels nice to be able to have a platform for my voice to be heard," said Daniel Butterfield, a Black hip-hop artist from P.E.I. who performs under the name Vince the Messenger.
"It's an honour to be able to represent myself and my people on the stage. I feel like it's about time that P.E.I. reflects on what the rest of the world looks like."
This is a return to form of sorts for the festival after the pandemic hampered all big public events on the Island.
In 2020, the festival was forced to go virtual. And last year only 150 people could attend a series of limited performances due to COVID-19 restrictions.
"We were capped at such small audiences for so long," Butterfield said.
Victoria Mikulchenko was one of the people from the local Ukrainian community who performed some music for the festival, which also featured dancing from children of Ukrainian families.
"It's a difficult time for Ukraine and it's a devastating time for all Ukrainian people. And it's a little chance to [raise awareness] and support Ukraine," she said.
"It keeps us all together," said Lei Pan, a recent UPEI graduate from China who attended the festival with her twin sister, Pei.
Charlottetown is the first stop for the festival, which will be touring some Island communities in the upcoming weeks. On the next couple Sundays, there will be shows in Alberton, Abram-Village, Summerside and Montague.
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
With files from Tony Davis