Culture Days took the Flin Flon area by storm four years ago and aren’t showing any signs of slowing down this year.
Flin Flon was ranked seventh in Canada last year for all Culture Days activities. And though organizer Crystal Kolt has a weekend full of activities prepared, she says it’s not about “topping” last year. Culture Days will run from Sept. 26-28 throughout the area.
“I don’t think it’s as much as topping it, but there are a lot of new events that are going to be offered, this year,” said Kolt. “Every year we do it, there are more and more things that work and that we can build on.”
Flin Flon’s Culture Days celebrations will feature 78 events with new items like Live Role Playing, a giant chess competition, a First World War artifacts exhibit, and numerous guest speakers.
“I’m just excited to see what will happen,” said Kolt. “I’m enjoying the journey. There is so much talent in the area and individuals confident in sharing and being such good leaders, so I’m not surprised that there is a lot to offer.”
Returning favourites
Dancing Down Main Street is not only Kolt’s favourite part of Culture Days, but proves to be a favourite of many with area residents and visitors taking part.
This year’s dance will mark the fifth year of parading down Main Street in sync. Dancers will learn a short dance from choreographer Carla Wabick to Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend.”
“It’s what I’m most excited about,” said Kolt, with a big smile. “We’re hoping to get bigger and bigger with this and we’re hoping to get more people dancing down Main Street.”
The annual dance will take place on the Sunday afternoon.
Culture is everywhere
Kolt and organizers nationwide hope to spread the word that “Culture is everywhere” through various activities and events later this month.
“It’s within sports, architecture, performing and visual arts, the clothes we wear. It’s in every aspect of life,” said Kolt.
Passports will be available this year so all visitors are able to keep track of the events they have already gone to as well as those they wish to see.
The passport will contain information on each event as well as a map of the locations.
“With this passport, at every event you attend you can have someone stamp that you visited,” she said. As an added bonus, those who have stamped passports will be eligible for a prize.
“It’s something new and it’s easy to carry around with (you),” said Kolt.
300 Strong
Culture Days in Flin Flon has proved to be a big success with 80 events last year and 78 recorded for this year.
But Kolt says it wouldn’t be possible without the more than 300 volunteers who help to run events.
“There are so many people committed,” she said, proudly. “It’s a draw for people to come check out an event. We are a very engaged community and that means a lot can happen.”
Culture Days events will get started on Sept. 26. A full list of events and locations can be found at Culturedays.ca under the 2014 activities tab.
