821. May 15-20+ Affordable Events in Multicultural Toronto – 2018

Classes about Buddhism and a birthday celebration. A Chinese-Canadian film, and an all-night Jewish cultural event. An international children’s festival and several Ramadan events for everyone. A distressing cry for help from the Rohingya.  You can experience some of these for free or almost free during this period in Toronto.

Buddhist. 2562nd Buddha’s Birthday Celebration. May 19-20. By donation. Zen Buddhist Temple, 86 Vaughan Road. https://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org/toronto

Buddhist. Sri Lanka. Classes: Life of the Buddha.  Saturday May (5), 19, 26 and June 2. 4:30-5:30pm. Free. Language: English. Buddha Meditation Center GTA, 11175 Kennedy Rd., Markham (1 km. north of Elgin Mills Road). ”Need to join late? Need to miss a class? No problem! We make recordings of the class, so if you need to miss a day, or if you miss the first class or so, we can send you the recording.“ To register and for more information: https://www.mahamevnawa.ca/activities.html#Lifeofthebuddha

Chinese-Canadian. Film: In the Shadow of the Gold Mountain. May 16. 7:30-9:30pm. Free. P. C. Ho Theatre, Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, 5183 Sheppard Avenue East. Tel. 613-943-1880. Email: senator.oh@sen.parl.gc.ca. https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/screening-of-in-the-shadow-of-gold-mountain-tickets-45201167910?ref=enivtefor001&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=inviteformalv2&utm_term=attendJewish. Tikkun Leil Shavuot: Jewish Learning Festival. May 19. 8pm-8am. Free. Miles Nadar Jewish Community Centre, 750 Spadina Avenue (at Bloor). For schedule: https://mnjcc.org/images/MNJCC/JewishLife/Holidays_and_Celebrations/2018/Shavuot2018_program_FINAL-WEB.pdf

Multicultural. Junior – a New International Children’s Festival. Big Thoughts for Growing Minds. May 19-25. $15-20. Some events free. Harbourfront Centre. https://issuu.com/harbourfrontcentre/docs/junior_brochure_screenforissuu

Muslim. Multifaith. Intercultural Ramadan Dinners at Homes of Muslim Families, and Intercultural and Interfaith Dinners in a local church, synagogue, or Hindu temple — in the GTA. Ramadan (Fast-breaking) Meet Your Neighbours Dinners (any date between May 16–June 14). Organized every year by IDI GT. For details, see: http://toronto.interculturaldialog.com/category/upcomingevents/

Having attended these myself, I highly recommended that you take advantage of these opportunities to learn more about your Muslim neighbours if you haven’t done so already. Ramadan is the holiest time of the year for Muslims around the world, and it is the month of sharing. Muslims fast all day during this period. They may eat after sunset about 8pm. Our Featured Image about these small informal iftar dinners is from the Intercultural Dialogue Website.- Ruth

Myanmar. Burma. Canada. “Tell them we’re human.” What Canada and the World Can Do about the Rohingya Crisis. May 17. 2-4pm. Free. The Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility, 1 Devonshire Place (Devonshire Place & Hoskin Avenue, downtown U. of T.). Contact: Mayumi Yamaguchi. Tel. 416-946-8996.

Speakers: The Honourable Bob Rae, Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to Myanmar; Rachel Silvey; Richard Charles Lee Director, Asian Institute Professor, Department of Geography; Jacques Bertrand, Chair Director, Collaborative Master’s Specialization in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies, Professor of Political Science. https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/ai/events/

 

  Note from Ruth: TorontoMulticulturalCalendar.com chooses to promote events that encourage a feeling of community in our culturally diverse city. Mention doesn’t mean endorsement but we try to include events we think readers will find stimulating in the cultures of other groups. If you go to any of our mentioned events, please send us corrections or an account of your impressions so we will know whether or not we should promote these events in future. Please continue to send us posters. We don’t charge to post them and we don’t accept paid advertising. Post comments on  “Leave a Reply” below.  Email us at: ruthlormalloy@gmail.com. Subscribe to our Newsletter above.