THUNDER BAY -- The city’s most colorful event of the year is taking a journey around the world.
The 43rd annual Folklore Festival will be a two-day showcase of Thunder Bay’s diverse cultural heritage at Fort William Gardens.
Folklore Festival’s sponsorship chairwoman Jeanetty Jumah said the festival is an experience of sights, sounds and flavors celebrating a number of co-existing cultures.
“Canada is a multicultural nation with rich Aboriginal cultures and we need to celebrate it and take that forth into our daily lives and value people for who they are,” Jumah said.
Festival goers will see traditions come alive through costumes, videos, artifacts and visual art displays.
The weekend will open with Thunder Bay’s Chinese-Canadian association with their traditional Lion Dance, followed by thousands of performers who will light up the main stage with cultural traditional dancing.
“We have two Ukrainian dance companies that are a hundred strong. There’s going to be top quality entertainment all weekend,” Jumah said.
Organizers are expecting 10,000 people to join the festivities.
Festival hours are Apr. 30 from 12 p.m. until 11 p.m. and May 1 from 12 p.m. to 7 pm. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors and $1 for children ages 4 to 12.