Submitted. Mission has jumped aboard the national Culture Days initiative, with a number of events taking place over the week-end of September 27, 28, and 29. Culture Days is a collaborative movement to encourage awareness, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities.
On Saturday September 28, a number of events are taking place in the downtown area of Mission.
Ancestor Connections presents Baskets: Containers & Culture, 10am to 4pm, 33201 2nd Avenue. Activities Include an exhibit and demonstrations of basket making skills, stories about basket makers, and an opportunity to try some basic techniques. Bring your favourite basket and share your story. Mission Historical Society will also give tours of the new heritage mural.
Stroll down to 33219 1st Avenue and you can pop into the Fraser Valley Academy of Dance and get a “behind the scenes” look at dance classes, 9:30am-2pm and rehearsals for The Nutcracker, 2:15pm-4:15pm. The building itself has a rich history and wonderful architectural details.
Head over to the Mission Arts Centre, 33529 First Avenue for the Mission Spinners & Weavers Guild opening reception of Fibres on the Fraser Exhibition, 1pm to 4pm. You will find weaving, knitting, art-you-can-wear, baskets, wall hangings and features a performance by the West Coast Harmony Chorus.
September 29, Mission Celebrates BC Rivers Day with: River Stories, Songs & Stewardship
11am to 4pm, Mission Spirit Square, Jack Poole Harbourside Park.
Sponsored by the Fraser Valley Watersheds Coalition in partnership with the Mission Arts Council and Mission Adopt-A-Block, the event kicks off with a river clean-up from 11am-1pm. From 1 to 4pm activities include a performance by the Serenata Singers, an eco-arts show, environmental speakers and information booths, artist demos and hands-on-arts opportunities.
Community members can take part in a “spontaneous choir” and learn and perform the call and response chant Oolichan at the event. Those would take part in a rehearsal at the event at 12:30pm should contact Deborah Handley at 604-556-1368 for more information.
The Rivers Day event culminates with the arrival of the Hope Mountain Centre, giant flotilla of canoes, kayaks, and powered rafts that have traveled 35 kilometres from Kilby to Mission. Along the way, they will visit the gravel bars, side channels, islands, and riparian forests that make this part of the Fraser so important to fish and wildlife. The flotilla will arrive between 3:30-4pm and amass mid-river before they dock at Matsqui.
For more information on Culture Days visit www.culturedays.ca. For more info on events happening in Mission contact the Cultural Resources Commission at culture@mission.ca.