Students at Peacock Collegiate celebrated multicultural week with the school’s annual cultural fair Nov. 22, making this the seventh year the event has been hosted at the school.
The aim of the fair is to celebrate the different cultural backgrounds of staff and students attending school at Peacock.
“It’s a great way to celebrate all of the diversity at our school – a fantastic way to celebrate it,” said Candace Varjassy, a teacher at Peacock and one of the event organizers.
“Anyone in this school can sign up, and we have about 25 display tables with different cultures represented. All the families have helped out to make food and celebrate all of the different cultures,” she added.
“You walk around, get some food samples. There’s entertainment, there’s singing… we’ve got cultural questions, so yeah, it’s a good time. It’s packed in here,” said Nik Cochrane, the organizer for Central Collegiate’s cultural fair set to take place the following day.
The event drew a steady crowd of students throughout the three-hour event that began at 10 a.m. in the school’s gymnasium.
The fair’s performances were organized by three of Peacock’s students, Hadija, Rhyza, and Ana Carolina.
“This is my second time being here at the cultural fair, and I don’t know, it’s fun. This is also going to be my last time (because I will be graduating), but I really like it. You get to know other cultures and try different foods, and it’s good. I like it,” Ana Carolina said.
“Everyone from different countries (views) this fair as a symbol to represent other cultures,” Hadija explained. “We’re given the chance to represent our cultures this way,” Rhyza added.
All three students agreed the highlight of the fair was the opportunity to try new cultural foods, which were prepared homemade by students and their parents, following some of their more noteworthy traditional recipes.
“It’s really hard to narrow down (a favourite) because everything is really good,” Hadija admitted.
Admission to the cultural fair was free of charge, and for only $1 per ticket, guests can sample food from each of the different cultural vendors. As part of a friendly competition, the students who sell the highest amount of food will be given acknowledgement with a Tim Horton’s gift card.
Proceeds raised from the fair will be awarded to a randomly selected graduate of Peacock’s English as a Second Language program in the form of a scholarship.
The event was made possible thanks to a partnership between Peacock Collegiate and the Moose Jaw Multicultural Council and is set to take place for multicultural week again in 2024.
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