“The city’s sixth annual multicultural celebration showcased the diversity of Surrey’s population with 36 cultural pavilions for such nations as Ghana, Barbados, Lebanon and Tonga. Each pavilion highlighted the music, food and dance of the numerous countries involved…”We’re still working on the tallies, but we’re approaching 100,000 people this year,” said John Donnelly, president of John Donnelly & Associates, which organized the event. “It’s our biggest and best year – record food sales and record attendance.” (The Now Newspaper-Surrey)
This is the first time in six years that Lebanon participates at the Surrey Fusion Festival at Holland Park the weekend of July 20th and 21st, 2013. Lebanese Canadian Society’s youth members, dressed in traditional Lebanese costumes, marched in the parade of flags, along with all the countries who participated this year.
On the menu for Lebanon were Falafel, Hummus, Man’eesh, Baklawa, Lebanese coffee and much more. There was also a display of books, clothing, and traditional artifacts to educate visitors on the history of Lebanon.
As first year participants, Lebanon was lucky to secure an entertainment spot to showcase a “flavour of Lebanese culture”. A belly dancer entertained the crowd who were drawn to the upbeat Lebanese music. Following the dancer was a performance by Lebanese-Canadian singer Nadina. The finale was a Dabkeh performed by 5 children ranging in age from 5-8years (Jean-Michel, Jad, Miriam, Mitchell, Lucien). It was a proud moment for all Lebanese to see the children conclude their performance by holding up the Lebanese flag.
In addition to the stage performances, the weekend was full of impromptu Dabkeh, belly dancing, and “Dirbakkeh” in front of the Lebanon pavilion which attracted and engaged the passers-by.
Lebanon’s participation could not have happened without the help of the members of the Lebanese Canadian Society of BC who volunteered long hours before, during and after the event to ensure that Lebanon is well represented. Many volunteers signed up to help out at this event. A great number of the volunteers were youth who were prepared to take any role to help out (serving, cleaning, educating and entertaining the crowd)
A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who helped out with making this event a success.
Looking forward to Lebanon’s participation at next year’s Surrey Fusion Festival.
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