Celebrate Indigenous arts and culture at The Drum is Calling Festival

Jun 14 2017, 1:40 am

The Drum is Calling Festival is taking place at various locations throughout Vancouver from Saturday, July 22 to Sunday, July 30.

The free event shares the best of traditional, contemporary and cutting edge Indigenous arts, music, and culture.

You can expect to see performances from iconic artists including singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie, PowWowStep creator DJ Shub, singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, country sensation Crystal Shawanda, and more.

What’s also cool is that you can check out traditional Indigenous housing that will be serving as spaces for art, workshops, film, and performances.

Each structure will be built by youth and the non-profit Vancouver Native Housing Society (VNHS) over the course of the Kanata Festival on Turtle Island – open daily from 11 am to 8 pm from June 19 to July 1. The cultural festival will feature contemporary and traditional music and art performances, workshops, storytellers, food, and crafts.

Crews have been getting ready for the Kanata Festival by preparing the ground. A stylized map of North America/Turtle Island (a creation story and the name of the continent for some Indigenous Nations) has been painted right on the parking lot at Larwill Park.

The festival has a goal to promote increased understanding of and reconciliation with Canada’s First Peoples: to Rename, Reclaim, Reconcile. Interestingly, Kanata is the Iroquoian word for village and the origin of the name of Canada.

You can see some of the Indigenous structures at The Drum is Calling Festival as well as the traditional and contemporary culture of Vancouver’s three Host Nations and Indigenous people from across Canada.

The Drum is Calling Festival

When: July 22 to 30, 1 -10 pm
Where: Larwill Park, Playhouse Theatre, Vancouver Public Library Atrium, Queen Elizabeth Theatre Lobby, and QET Plaza
Price: Free

Daily Hive is a proud media sponsor of The Drum is Calling Festival 

DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

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