Culture Days to feature Oktoberfest and Maker Space locally

by Morinville News Staff

Alberta Culture Days run from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, and the province is expecting a full weekend of hands-on art workshops, live musical performances, historical exhibits, and a wide variety of artistic and cultural activities.

Alberta Culture Days is part of National Culture Days, a movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the artistic and cultural life of their communities.

“Alberta Culture Days is a wonderful celebration of Alberta’s diverse and vibrant art and culture community, highlighting all the amazing aspects that make this province so unique,” said Ricardo Miranda, Minister of Culture and Tourism in a government release. “The arts and cultural sector not only improves our quality of life but is also a significant economic driver supporting local businesses and creating jobs.”

More than 71 communities and organizations held 884 events in 2015, drawing more than 130,000 Albertans to take part in the activities.

Locally, the Town of Morinville’s Community Services Department is still planning the full weekend; however, Shaun Peters Events and Culture Coordinator for the Town told Morinville News Oktoberfest will take place during the Culture Days weekend.

“We are still in the midst of finalizing details for Alberta Culture Days,” Peters said, noting Oktoberfest is happening that same weekend. “It is setting up to be a great (full-day) of activities.”

Peters went on to say this year’s Oktoberfest is sponsored by Deford Contracting Inc. and will include Vinok Folkdance Ensemble, Emeralds, EVVA (volksmarch), dachshunds, an accordion player, an organ grinder, and a Volkswagen Auto Club Car Show with nostalgic bugs and buses.

Peters sees Culture Days as an important provincial initiative.

“Alberta Culture Days began as a single day Albertans got to recognize and celebrate the value of arts and culture in their communities,” Peters explained. “Since then it has blossomed into a vibrant three-day province-wide celebration. Alberta Culture Days has helped inspire the creation of awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in arts and culture, and we want to do the same in Morinville.”

web-libaryThe Morinville Public Library will be launching their new Maker Space items on Oct. 1. Library staff member Ashley Cain told Morinville News the library had applied for a $1300 grant from the government to help them fund Culture Days events at the library but were unsuccessful in getting the funding.

“We had to cancel a bunch of our [planned] programming because we can’t ask people to do stuff for free,” Cain said. “What we are doing on the first is launching our Maker Space.”

The Maker Space will include approximately a dozen age-appropriate boxes in the realm of science and arts, and will be available free for people to come in and use. The library is planning to designate a special area to showcase the Maker Space items.

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