A three-event series again celebrated “Surrey Voices” this summer with the planning help of interns with Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association (BIA).
The diverse events aim to help people learn about the cultures of their neighbours, according to intern Shenae Meerkerk, who helped plan the gatherings at King George Hub, on King George Boulevard just north of Fraser Highway.
On the plaza there Thursday (Aug. 10), the last event in the 2023 series offered “a cultural fusion with Guinea Day first, featuring performer Kocassale Dioubate, a griot from the Mandingo tribe in Guinea,” Meerkerk explained.
He performed using a kora (stringed instrument) and bolon (traditional bass), and led a drumming workshop. Later, Burnaby International Folk Dancers performed and taught dance steps.
🎙️ Welcome Burnaby International Folk Dancers to @HUB_at_KGS! Bringing so much joy to the community! pic.twitter.com/U6BE6L6Rqf
— Downtown Surrey BIA (@dtsurreybia) August 10, 2023
🎙️live from @HUB_at_KGS with Kunda Culture! What a beautiful community event! Neighbours of the area enjoy participating in the performance by learning to drum!
— Downtown Surrey BIA (@dtsurreybia) August 10, 2023
Coming up is a performance from Burnaby International Folk Dancers! Stay tuned... pic.twitter.com/obQcGHxEVt
“We want to promote cultural engagement and understanding as the City of Surrey has a diverse population,” Meerkerk added.
“This year we held these events at the King George Hub which has a quickly increasing population as a result of the numerous towers nearby to it and allows passersby to see the event on their way to get lunch or go shopping.”
The BIA’s “Surrey Voices” events have been held at a few locations in recent years, including Holland Park and Surrey Civic Plaza.
For 2023, first of the “Surrey Voices” events was an Indonesia Night followed by a Japanese Day with Lorene Oikawa, who told stories of Japanese-Canadians in Surrey and taught origami.
This summer the Downtown Surrey BIA welcomed eight interns, co-op students from SFU from a variety of disciplines including interactive arts and technology, criminology, communications, planning and business.
“Although we have half the number of students we had in 2022, we managed to do almost the same amount of work,” BIA manager Bonnie Burnside noted ahead of an Aug. 14 luncheon at SFU Surrey, where the interns will recap their summer of work with the business group.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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