The 17th annual DTES Heart of the City Festival is still happening this year from October 28th to November 8th, 2020. Because of the circumstances of COVID-19, the festival has adapted to an online version this year, with twelve pre-recorded virtual options to get involved.
Every year the Vancouver community looks forward to the Heart of the City festival. This celebration holds the opportunity for cultural exchange and getting together with one another. This year, you can expect 12 days of online and pop-up outdoor events, including ceremonies, films, workshops, music, arts, and history. This festival is special because it allows artists and residents of the DTES to indulge in diverse traditions, languages, cultural roots, and stories. One of the poets, Sandy Cameron says “When we tell our stories we draw our own maps and question the maps of the powerful. Each of us has something to tell, something to teach.”
This festival usually happens in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, one of the oldest neighborhoods rich in culture and historic events. 2020’s festival theme is “This Gives Us Strength.” This theme was decided as our community copes with racism, a worldwide pandemic, physical distancing, and a fentanyl crisis.
The website http://www.heartofthecityfestival.com has all the most recent updates of dates and times for online events you can tune in to from home. Keep in mind, some of these events do need a ticket purchase.
“The mandate of the Festival is to promote, present, and facilitate the development of artists, art forms, cultural traditions, history, activism, people, and great stories about Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The festival involves professional, community, emerging and student artists, and lovers of the arts,” as per the Heart of the City Festival website.
If you’re looking for something to do this year to get more involved and connect with people and different cultures, check out the Heart of the City Festival 2020.