Celebrate Japanese Canadian culture while giving back to your community! Join us for a LIVE online telethon August 1, 2020 from 2pm – 7pm to watch live performances, highlights from previous festivals, appearances from festival vendors, and so much more. Tune in with your family and friends to experience the spirit of the festival right from your home!
The Powell Street Festival Society (PSFS) produces the annual Japanese Canadian (JC) outdoor festival that takes place in the historic JC neighbourhood, Paueru Gai located in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Side (DTES). The Powell Street Festival is the largest JC festival in the country and the longest running community arts celebration in Vancouver! Our mission is to cultivate Japanese Canadian arts and culture to connect communities. We thrive on and encourage community engagement, collaboration, and accessibility. That is why we offer space to Downtown Eastside Organizations among our community booths at the festival. Outside of our festival, we play an active role throughout the year in uplifting the DTES community. Through our Advocacy and Outreach Committee we help facilitate events such as workshops, free lunches, and artistic collaborations.
Regrettably, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of the 44th Annual Powell Street Festival as a physical gathering. But the spirit of the festival lives on in our online Telethon August 1, 2020. The Telethon will be streamed on our website and will feature appearances from local JC artists, vendors and booths, and community stakeholders who are the heart of the festival. In addition, our website will host an online directory to highlight our food/craft/community booths and marketplace vendors.
100% of the Telethon proceeds will go toward our year-round DTES Community Care program. This program entails bringing the JC community together to create a monthly meal program for people in the DTES in partnership with the DTES Community Kitchen network. The funds will also support our existing DTES seasonal celebrations including: the Hanami Cherry Blossom Event, Asahi Tribute Game, and Minori Harvest.
With your support, we will rally to bring well-being to the DTES! Now is the time to show our collective resilience, solidarity, and community care to support those in need during this challenging time.
We will be launching our online Telethon Pledge Campaign on July 1, 2020 on Canada Helps. If you would like to donate immediately, please visit our Canada Helps website and your donation will count as a pledge for the Telethon. More information about the campaign will be made available on our website in July. Please support by donating and consider becoming our monthly donor. We are a charitable organization and will be issuing tax receipts for donations.
For updates, follow us at www.powellstreetfestival.com • @powellstfest • #powellstfest
CONTACT: June Fukumura, Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator
june[at]powellstreetfestival.com
