winterPLAY adds multicultural elements to lineup

Written by Rebekah Benoit
Wednesday, 22 February 2012 10:37

Cassius Khan (Supplied)Valentine’s Day was marked by more than just hand-holding couples and packed restaurants in Fort McMurray this year—the day also saw the kickoff to winterPLAY, Fort McMurray’s annual winter festival celebrating all things frosty and fun. This year’s festival, which will run for an impressive three full weeks, will see the usual schedule of time-honoured winter events, including the ever-popular Shootout on the Snye, but this year, the organizers at Events Wood Buffalo have added a new element which reflects Fort McMurray’s diverse nature as a city called home by people from every corner of the globe.

“This community is incredibly diverse and rich in culture and tastes, particularly in arts and culture,” explains Andrea Curtis, interim events co-ordinator for Events Wood Buffalo.

“We wanted to reflect what’s going on here and what people are interested in.”

With this goal in mind, Events Wood Buffalo has added several new multicultural events to the lineup for this year.

Feb. 19 saw the performance of Cassius Khan and his wife, Amika.

The pair performed Indian classical singing and drumming in the tabla style, an intensely challenging exercise.

In fact, Khan is touted as the only professional performer in the world who can do the two simultaneously.

Curtis says the event was very well-attended.

“It was amazing,” she describes. “Everyone had an incredible time. You might not initially think that this is something that will be immensely popular here in Fort McMurray, but it was.”

March 3 will see the African Guitar Summit perform, a musical collective of nine African-Canadian performers, each of whom bear a unique cultural ancestry and bring to the stage a different aspect of African musical culture.

The Red Power Squad, a popular First-Nations hip-hop group out of Edmonton, will also perform this year.

The group’s lead singer is originally from Fort McMurray, something Curtis says blends the multicultural aspect of winterPLAY with a focus on local talent.

Some of the most popular events from last year feature highly again this year, including the polar bear plunge, skiing and tubing at Vista Ridge, the crowd-pleasing winter marketplace and the grand finale at the Snye which will feature winter activities, food and entertainment.

“We’re really programming for a diverse audience,” Curtis says, adding that there really is “something for everyone.”

“We have everything from the Team Canada DJs, which is basically a club night at the Suncor Centre for the Performing Arts, to bouncy castles,” she says.

“Like any festival, every time we roll it out we see what works and what doesn’t, where the bumps and kinks are, what we want to bring back as well as bringing in new and exciting things to keep it fresh.”

Curtis, who hails from Vancouver, says she was impressed with both the diversity of Fort McMurray as well as the quality of the festival’s events.

“I can’t wait to go home and tell all my friends about what kind of cultural diversity there is here, the level of productivity and professionalism. I wouldn’t have expected it, but I’ve really been blown away,” she says.

WinterPLAY runs until March 4 and features an impressive lineup of events ranging from hockey and skating, to musical acts and comedy, to children’s events. To see the calendar of events, to volunteer or for more information, visit winterPLAY website at www.winterplay.ca.