Honouring our roots: East Coast Ukrainian Festival returns to Halifax

The East Coast Ukrainian Festival kicked off at Pier 21 in Halifax on Saturday, celebrating Ukrainian culture and traditions. (Paul Dewitt/ CTV Atlantic)

The East Coast Ukrainian Festival kicked off at Pier 21 in Halifax on Saturday, celebrating Ukrainian culture and traditions.

The theme for this year’s festival is “Honouring our Roots.”

“We represent the elements of traditional Ukrainian culture that unite many generations of Ukrainians. We also want to honour those who risked their wellbeing and sometimes their lives but did not give up their identity,” said Olha Khaperska, President of the East Coast Ukrainian Association.

The event features interactive activities and local vendors.

“We have a lot of interactive activities, dancing, folk singing, pierogi eating contest, and a concert in the evening,” said Khaperska. “We have local businesses and it’s either a Ukrainian business or somebody that sells something traditional.”

The East Coast Ukrainian Festival featured interactive activities and local vendors. (Paul Dewitt/ CTV Atlantic)

Khaperska says this year’s festival features a unique historical exhibit from the Kule Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta.

“The exhibit came from Alberta, and it called “Love Letters from the Past”, and it features historical documents that first settlers from Ukraine in Canada were sending home as letters and request for family members to come over. They also wrote about longing for their home,” she said.

This year’s festival features a unique historical exhibit from the Kule Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta. (Paul DeWitt/CTV Atlantic)

Khaperska says she hopes people who visit the festival see the sense of hope and joy in the Ukrainian community.

“It’s been very very hard but that is what carried us through, and we hope to build up on that and ask for continuous support for Ukraine and her people,” she said.

“All proceeds from the festival will go towards buying thermal pads and this particular project is called ‘Send your Warmth to the Front Lines’, so their hands and their feet can be warm.”

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