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Arts for Peace Orillia
June 22 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
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After a 6 year hiatus, Arts for Peace will once again bring folks together for a peaceful summer afternoon of music, crafts, dance, storytelling, yoga, bubbles and community.
Started by members of Project Ploughshares Orillia, a non-governmental organization that worked with churches, governments and civilian groups to prevent war and promote peace, the sunny festival on the grounds of the Leacock Museum has been honouring peacemakers from here and from around the world since 1983.
A cancellation due to weather, followed by the COVID pandemic, led to several years where Arts for Peace did not take place. Now, the next generation is getting involved by organizing and promoting a revival of this much loved local treasure with financial support from a City of Orillia grant.
“We have teenagers who remember the Arts for Peace Festival fondly and wanted to be part of making it happen again. I suppose they are at the core of our effort to reinvigorate Arts for Peace,” shared members of the organizing team Becky Bauman and Kara Sears. “We want our children to learn to be peacemakers in this world, especially at a local level. We want to be part of a movement that takes peacemaking seriously.” Bauman went on to share that she “loves the simplicity of the idea that art might be a medium for building peace in our community. Maybe some new seeds will be sown this year that increase peace in the world at a time when war and conflict seem to be all around.”
Adults and children of all ages will be able to enjoy performances by local artists and participate in a variety of activities featuring crafts, stories, music and circle dancing.
“I think the focus, being world peace, must be in everyone’s hearts,” said long-time event volunteer Lorna Bolden. “Locally, it has become almost like a family reunion. People who were involved right at the beginning are now bringing their grandchildren.”
This grassroots community s festival is free to attend thanks to a grant from the City of Orillia and goodwill donations to cover costs. Specialty T-shirts will be also be sold at the event ($25).
For more information, contact artsforpeaceorillia@gmail.com
