Folklorama kick-off gives glimpse into performances, festivities ahead of official start

While Folklorama doesn’t officially get underway until Aug. 4, some people got to catch a glimpse of what’s to come in a kick-off celebration on Saturday.

A cavalcade of colours and cultures were on display at Assiniboine Park’s Lyric Theatre, as performers from all backgrounds graced the stage.

“This is always really the kickoff to a tremendous few weeks of all of our community cultures coming together to celebrate the best two weeks of summer,” said Teresa Cotroneo, the executive director of Folklorama.

The festival, which is marking its 53rd anniversary, expects to have dozens of pavilions scattered around the city, along with two new ones.

“One is Ghana, which will be celebrating the Gold Coast of Africa,” Cotroneo said. “And the second is Latin American Pavilion, which will have a mix of some of the smaller communities; Nicaragua, Venezuela, places we haven't necessarily seen represented.”

Cotroneo said Folklorama hopes to host more fusion pavilions, with several countries and cultures combined in one venue.

“There are smaller communities that aren't sure, they're hesitant about whether they have the capacity to pull off a large pavilion,” she said. “We're looking at opportunities for more fusion and just for people to be able to get together and truly celebrate their beautiful heritage.”

Cotroneo emphasized the festival wouldn’t be possible without the thousands of volunteers that help run the show.

“They're working year-round to put together their operational plans, recruit, train, certify. So it's thousands and thousands of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of hours.”

For those looking to visit some of the pavilions, Cotroneo recommends planning ahead and checking out a group of venues in the same area.

“You could do a whole evening of different pavilion hopping,” she said.

More information on the pavilions and festivities can be found on the Folklorama website.

- With files from CTV's Daniel Halmarson.