New event to showcase cultures from around the world at the Commercial Street Night Market
The night market runs every Thursday evening, rain or shine, until its last night on August 27. (Jesse Woodward / CHLY 101.7FM)
This summer many of the diverse communities that make up Nanaimo will have the chance to showcase their cultures and traditions through music, food, and dance at the Commercial Street Night Market.
The 7th annual downtown market kicked off Thursday. This year the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society, will be hosting a new Around the World Tent that will allow market goers to learn about various different cultures and parts of the world.
Located in the middle of the market at Diana Krall Plaza, the Around the World Tent will be hosted by different organizations of Indigenous, immigrant, and international cultures who will be able to represent their vibrant cultures with food, storytelling, traditions, music and performance.
The night market runs every Thursday evening, rain or shine, until its last night on August 27.
For the opening week, the Snuneymuxw First Nation showcased their culture with speeches, dance performances, and music.
CHLY spoke with Liette Masse, interim CEO of the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, at the opening night for the Commercial Street Night Market.
She said every Thursday a new organization will get an opportunity to host the tent and showcase their cultures.
“You will be able to see the Hungarian Cultural Society, Vancouver Island Bhangra, or Crimson Coast Dance,” Masse said.
She said each organization will be able to take the stage and showcase their cultures.
“There'll be dance, there'll be cultural teachings, there'll be storytelling, food,” she said. “So expect something different each week depending on the organization and the culture that's coming to represent.”
With the Around the World Tent, the night market is looking at making this year the most community-focused edition ever of the night market by featuring local performances, vendors, and food trucks.
With the market just kicking off, Masse said they are looking forward to seeing what downtown Nanaimo has to offer.
“I am looking forward to seeing all the crowds fill up the streets and become a really lively place for downtown Nanaimo,” Masse said.
Angelika Valchar is the executive director for the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society. CHLY spoke to her as the market was underway.
“So the Around the World Tent was an idea that we have shared together with Chamber of Commerce to really bring more culture and more opportunities for newly demographic groups that arrived to Nanaimo in the last three years to actually introduce citizens of Nanaimo to listen and be exposed to other cultures, other storytelling, or dance groups,” Valchar said.
She said alongside the Chamber of Commerce, they have been working with many different groups in Nanaimo to host different events at the tent.
“We know there were about 50 different cultural groups, dancers, musicians, storytellers from a variety of cultural groups that would be performing, and we're really looking forward to it,” she said. “It's our first time, and I think this is a great opportunity for us and for cultures to showcase what their history and tradition and folk is about.”
She said she is most excited for this tent to be a way for people to show diversity in Nanaimo and give people opportunities to learn.
“Embrace, ask questions, showcase your curiosity,” Valchar said. “It's okay to ask people, ‘I would love to learn more about your country.’ ‘I would love to learn more about your culture.’ Ask about food. Food always brings people together, right?”
The Commercial Street Night Market will be running every Thursday evening through August 27 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM, downtown Nanaimo.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.