« Welcome to the 13th Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival and twelve days of music, stories, songs, poetry, cultural celebrations, films, theatre, dance, processions, spoken word, forums, workshops, discussions, gallery exhibits, public art, mixed media, art talks, history talks and history walks.

The theme of this year’s Festival, Living on Shared Territory, pays tribute to the Downtown Eastside’s founding peoples, cultures and diverse neighbourhoods as we live, learn and create together on unceded Coast Salish territories under the long shadow of our colonial past and present.

A special feature this year is the installation of the 27 ft. Survivors Totem Pole in Pigeon Park at Hastings and Carrall. This grass roots initiative led by Sacred Circle Society, in the words of carver Skundaal Bernie Williams (Haida/Coast Salish), “honours the many people who have arrived and lived in the Downtown Eastside as survivors”.

Other Festival highlights include:

Realms of Refuge, a participatory evolving gallery project produced in partnership with Jumblies Theatre (Ontario) that brings to life miniature worlds and explores different ways we find refuge in the places where we live; Metamorphose, a community-engaged dance production and premiere by Karen Jamieson Dance and the Carnegie Dance Troupe that explores transformation, creation and imagination through dance; Richard Tetrault’s stunning and dynamic three-piece mural/banner (11.5’high x18’wide) featuring local activists and artists past and present. »

For more information on the Heart of the City Festival, please visit www.heartofthecityfestival.com!

-from Heart of the City Festival’s website