Efforts are being made to give the Spirit of Okotoks festivities a bit more of an international flavour.
A day traditionally reserved for community-based festivities is being expanded to embrace some global cultures highlighted by the inaugural cultural fair at Okotoks Public Library after the parade on June 18.
The festival is hosted by Foothills Immigrant Services and Myrna Scovoranski, community coordinator for the organization, said the goal of the event is to enjoy the various cultures in the community.
“The idea is to bring people together and highlight our cultural differences and celebrate them,” she said.
The organizers are counting on people’s taste buds to recognize some of these global differences. Food samples from an assortment of countries will be available for tasting. There will also be informative cultural displays with photographs and artwork. The complete list of represented countries was not available at press time but Scovoranski confirmed Mexico and Sri Lanka were two nations, which would be represented.
Visitors to the cultural celebration are welcome to get in the sprit by wearing any articles of distinctive dress relevant to their place of origin or ancestry.
While Scovoranski works out of the Foothills Immigrant Services location in High River she explained the event at the library is a joint effort also involving the participation of the group’s new Okotoks branch.
“I will be there and most of our staff will be on site,” she said.
Visitors to the celebration will be able to obtain information on the many services they provide to new arrivals to Canada including assistance with various application forms, citizenship preparation classes and community integration support.
Scovoranski explained the organization does not deal with just one segment of the immigrant sector.
“We work with all statuses of people in the country who are permanent residents including refugee claimants and temporary foreign workers,” she said.
Of course you don’t have to be new to Canada to be a part of the Cultural Celebration. Local residents are encourage to stop by the library to enjoy the festivities which are part of the Spirit of Okotoks activities going on in town Saturday. From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. people can sample cuisine from other parts of the globe and learn more about some of the different cultures in the area.
