Good news for festival-goers and anyone interested in learning about our region’s diverse cultures.
The Carrousel of the Nations will return to its traditional format as an in-person festival across the region this June. This is after the past two years of virtual celebration due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s festival will boast nearly 20 villages, ranging from Polish, to Italian, to Lebanese. Festival goers will have a chance to visit any number of villages throughout the region over two weekends of festivities.
Executive Director of the Multicultural Council in Windsor-Essex Fred Francis says it’s the perfect event for someone planning a trip abroad.
“Carrousel of the Nations affords you the ability to travel the world without leaving your city, and it saves you a whole lot of money in travel expenses." he began. "It allows you to kind of test drive the different cultures, and the firrerent foods, and dances, and celebrations.”
Francis added, the willingness of so many groups to participate shows that people want to share their culture.
“That’s how important their culture is to them, and not only how important it is to them, but it’s important to them to share their culture with others in the community, so people can learn about the German culture, Italian culture, Chinese culture.”
The festival would’ve happened if COVID restrictions stuck around, but the team is thrilled to be back in-person.
“We were prepared to go virtual too, so we were trying to prepare it both ways. We were hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. As the months continued to progress, we’re like ‘Okay, we’re going to be able to do this in person’,” said Francis.
This year’s theme is “Discover Carrousel”. The dates for the festival are June 17-19, and June 24-26.