840. Affordable Events Sept 6-13+ in Multicultural Toronto – 2018

A good reason to learn about Assyria and Australia. Plan now to share a Thanksgiving with Newcomers. Celtic, Ethiopian and Polish festivals. Two Christian events. Dragon boat races. A Japanese exhibition by female artists expressing themselves differently in a traditional male-dominated art.  A Japanese bazaar. The Jewish New Year. 83 countries represented at TIFF.  Our international folk dance club starts its autumn program.  Muslim processions mourn a leader.

Such events from elsewhere in the world are happening in our city. Most are opportunities to experience the world for free or almost free.

Assyria-Australia. Canadian debut of Assyrian-Australian Band Azadoota. Sunday, September 9. 8-10pm. $15. Small World Music Centre, 180 Shaw Street, Studio 101. https://www.picatic.com/Azadoota?utm_source=Small+World+Newsletter&utm_campaign=022a3ba329-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_06_08_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c639f3282a-022a3ba329-231733733

Image from Small World website. Costumes inspired by Azadoota’s ancient royal ancestors, Ashurbanipal, AshurNasirpal, Nebuchadnezzar.

Brazil. Raising of Flag of the Federative Republic of Brazil National Day. September 7. 4pm. Courtesy Flag Pole, Toronto City Hall. For this and official flag raisings of some other countries this month: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/awards-tributes/tributes/flag-raising-half-masting/2018-flag-raising-listing/.

Image of Brazilian Flag from Wikipedia.

Celtic. Annual Beach Celtic Festival. September 8 and 9. 9am-7pm. Free. Dancers, pipers, vendors, singers, songwriters, dogs, kids, families. Kew Gardens, 2075 Queen Street East. Www.thecelticrfestival.com.

China. Great White North (GWN) Dragon Boat Challenge. September 8 and 9. Free for spectators. Many countries have adopted these races that originated in ancient China. Toronto has two major venues. Those at Marilyn Bell Park are a lot easier to get to than those on Centre Island. Dragon boating is one of my favourite events because many of the teams are each mixed racially, with both men and women. Very diverse, those.

Great White North’s event has an Interactive Kids Zone, entertainment on the main stage with DJ sets and live bands. The Health and Wellness Zone features vendors. Beer garden. Marilyn Bell Park, 1059 Lake Shore Boulevard West just south of Exhibition Place. http://www.gwndragonboat.com/default.asp?id=challenge&l=1.

Christian. Jesus in the City. September 8. 12pm. Free entry. Queen’s Park. JesusintheCity.com.

Egypt. St. Mark’s Annual Festival. September 7-9. Free. St. Mark’s Coptic Church, 455 Ferrier Street, Scarborough. St.MarksToronto.com/festival.Ethiopia. 20th Anniversary Ethiopian-Canadian Day. September 8. 11am-12am. Free entry. Christie Pits Park (at Christie subway station). Music, cultural fashion show, food, cultural exhibits, kids’ activities, etc.  Japan. Japan Now. Female Masters. The Diana Reitberger Collection of Modern and Contemporary Ceramics. September 7-January 13, 2019. $9-$15. Half-price admission after 4pm on Fridays. Gardiner Museum, 111 Queen’s Park. “showcases the brilliant work of some of the most celebrated contemporary female ceramists of Japan. With their own sensibilities and without ties to specific regional or familial ceramic traditions, these artists have raised their nation’s ceramic arts to an entirely new level…”: https://www.gardinermuseum.on.ca/event/japan-now-female-masters/

Image from Gardiner Museum
website.

Japan. Second Annual Japonica Sale. September 8. 10am. Fund-raising bazaar. Momiji Senior Centre, 555 Kingston Road, Scarborough. Kokeshi, bamboo, lacquer, Ikebana, tableware and a selection of gently or never-used soft goods including kimono, furoshiki and bags. Café with Obento, lunch, teas, coffee, home-baked sweets, etc. http://momiji.on.ca/en/japonica-2018-september-8/. For more information: Sheri-Lynn at fundraising@momiji.on.ca.

Jewish. Rosh Hashana. Jewish New Year, the holiest day of the year. September 9-11. It is sometimes called the Day of Remembrance or the Day of Blowing the Shofar. According to chabad.org, “For nearly twenty-six hours… ‘we afflict our souls’: we abstain from food and drink, do not wash or anoint our bodies, do not wear leather footwear, and abstain from marital relations.” It is a time to ask God to forgive sins. Shanah Tovah” is the Hebrew greeting.

Painting in Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam.

Multicultural. Pre-Thanksgiving Dinners. Any date between October 1 and 4. Host registration deadline: Friday, September 21st, 2018;  Guest registration deadline: Tuesday September 25th. For more information: jkovacs@idialogue.ca or call 647 502 6565. https://toronto.interculturaldialog.com/meet-your-neighbour-project-pre-thanksgiving-dinners/.

Note from Ruth: I have a big family with little room to add a refugee family for Thanksgiving dinner. This separate dinner with just a few family members and/or a sponsorship group is a great idea which gives more time to interact with Newcomer guests. And yes, halal turkeys are available in Toronto if you absolutely have to serve one. Inter-cultural Dialogue is the organization that has brought us Iftar dinners during Ramadan and other efforts at bringing different religions together.Multicultural. Toronto International Film Festival. Sept. 6-16. Individual tickets from $18: https://www.tiff.net/tickets/. Several venues. This most important of our many film festivals in Toronto features 254 films from 83 countries; for example, Orange Day from Iran, and Edge of the Knife a film with an entirely Haida cast. For schedule of films by countries: https://www.tiff.net/tiff/films.html?list; free events: https://www.tiff.net/tiff/films.html?list .

TIFF also has a street festival giving away free tickets to those who show a Metropass or TTC PRESTO card. September 6-9. King Street West between Peter and University Avenue. https://www.todocanada.ca/city/toronto/event/tiff-street-festival/

Image from the Iranian film “Orange Day”.

Multicultural. International Folk Dance Club. Most Friday nights September 7 to June (Date TBA), 2019. Program: 8-9 pm — teaching / 9-11 pm — request dancing & some additional teaching. Drop in fee: $8 for the whole evening. Multi-class pass available from time to time. Faculty of Education Building, 371 Bloor Street West (at Spadina). Info: Judy 416 978-0623 or Walter walter.zagorski@bell.net

ttps://twitter.com/tofolkdance ; http://ofda.ca/wp/ifdc/

image from International Folk Dance Club website.

 Muslim. Muslim. Muharram/Islamic New Year. September 12. Muharram is a time of remembrance or mourning, depending on sect. Islamic denominations – Shi’a and Sunni – and cultures commemorate it differently: https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/muslim/muharram-new-year

Sunday, September 16. 11am. Queen’s Park. Procession walks south on University Avenue. For more information. Tel. 647-784-2400.

Thursday, September 20. 9:30am. Mel Lastman Square. Procession walks to the Iranian Plaza at 6075 Yonge Street. https://www.ashura.ca/en-home

Image Copyright ©2017 Ruth Lor Malloy

Poland. Polish Heritage in the Park. September 8. 2-6pm. Free. Dufferin Grove Park. Polky Village Band with support from the Polish Consulate in Toronto invite you to the Polish Heritage Day in the Park! … celebrating Polish heritage. Open to the public with live music and folk dancing from Poland, Hungary and beyond!

“Everyone knows that Poles and Hungarians are good friends, so we invited our Hungarian friends to share their traditions and dances with us!” https://www.facebook.com/events/589838688078139Note 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 to 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.

 

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