PSF Staff 
Lifetime Members are invited to participate in Powell Street Festival Society’s Annual General Meeting. It will take place online via Zoom, on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, at 6:00 pm Pacific Time. Register Here You will receive your AGM package and Zoom Link closer to the event date. Please note that Katari Taiko’s AGM starts at … Read more
2022 Festival Connect: Radio Taiso Online Zoom Lessons Beginning May 4, we will be collaborating with Nikkei Seniors Health Care & Housing Society Japanese Canadian Survivors Health & Wellness Fund to bring you Online Radio Taiso Zoom Lessons in Japanese & English. Every Wednesday & Friday from 3:00 to 3:30 pm PST May 4 until … Read more
Minori (実り) Harvest at Oppenheimer Park An annual PSFS event to celebrate the harvest season and honour the history of Japanese Canadian farmers in BC On November 28, we held Minori (実り) Harvest at Oppenheimer Park, an annual event to celebrate the harvest season and honour the history of Japanese Canadian farmers in BC. Many … Read more
In Memory of Kevin Sleziak May 28, 1966 – October 24, 2021 It is with great sadness to share that our dear friend and long-time Powell Street Festival supporter, Kevin Sleziak, passed away on Sunday, October 24th, 2021 in the comfort and care of May’s Place. Kevin is known to many in the Powell Street … Read more
Welcome to the 45th Powell Street Festival! We have adapted to public health restrictions and revamped programming so festival-goers can stay bubble-safe, yet connected to the historic Japanese Canadian neighbourhood! Throughout the month of July, the festival website (www.powellstreetfestival.com) will be the hub for the country’s largest celebration of Japanese Canadian art and culture. We are … Read more
Announcing our Community Partnership with the Surrey Art Gallery The Powell Street Festival Society is pleased to announce our community partnership with the Surrey Art Gallery. The 45th Annual Powell Street Festival, taking place both online and in the historic Paueru Gai (Powell Street) neighborhood this summer, is partnering with the Surrey Art Gallery, who … Read more
Talking the Walk: Reflections on 360 Riot Walk is a series of three free online panel discussions using 360 Riot Walk as an entry point to explore the history of anti-Asian violence and white supremacy in Vancouver. 360 Riot Walk is an interactive walking tour of the 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver that traces the history … Read more
The Powell Street Festival Society’s Annual General Meeting will take place online via Zoom this year, Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 7:00 PM Pacific Time. Please register through our Eventbrite link to receive your AGM package and Zoom Link. Register Here Please note that Katari Taiko’s AGM starts at 6:30 pm, so please login early to support them too. Also, your Annual Membership Top-Up is now available … Read more
Greetings, Courtesy of the 45th Powell Street Festival, we would like to invite everyone across the country to learn the Paueru Mashup, a taiko flashmob work that encapsulates the festival! It’s a community dance that we can all learn and perform together one day! Learn the dance online and videotape yourself, then we will edit … Read more
Announcing the Stewardship of 360 Riot Walk The Powell Street Festival Society is proud to announce its stewardship of 360 Riot Walk created by artist Henry Tsang. 360 Riot Walk is a multilingual interactive self-guided walking tour which invites participants to trace a layered history of Vancouver’s labour politics, anti-Asian racism, and community resistance in what is today the Downtown Eastside. This unique project interweaves the narratives of racialized communities, reclaiming how and what histories are told. … Read more
In the ninth and final Paueru Gai Dialogues event, Kelty Miyoshi McKinnon will be in conversation with Skundaal Bernie Williams- Gul Kiit Jaad, Joe Fry and Ken Lum as they rethink and reimagine what monument means and why memorialization might be important. Do we need monuments and, if so, why? What do they mean and for whom? How are monuments being rethought? Participants will be invited into breakout groups to share their perspectives with one another. To wrap up the event, everyone will reconvene to offer questions and debrief together.
This online event is free, donations are gratefully accepted through Eventbrite or Canada Helps.
Guest Host Kelty Miyoshi McKinnon is a Landscape Architect and Partner at PFS Studio. Specializing in projects dealing with the public realm, she is committed to the creation of meaningful public spaces that merge cultural, social, and environmental ecologies.
Skundaal Bernie Williams (Gul Kiit Jaad; Golden Spruce Woman) is a long time Downtown Eastside resident, artist and activist. She is the first Indigenous woman to receive the Bold Woman of the Year award from BOLDFEST in 2018, and is cofounder of Walk4Justice, which brought National attention to the Highway of Tears and Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She is a passionate advocate and rallies against the discrimination, abuse and sexual assault, human trafficking, exploitation against Aboriginal and LGBTQ2S women and girls.
Joe Fry is the founding principal of Hapa Collaborative and a contemporary voice for landscape architecture and urban design in Vancouver. Throughout his career, Joe has dedicated himself to deepening the discussion around the economic, societal and environmental values of civic placemaking. Joe is a coach, a parent, a volunteer and a committed participant in our City’s discussion about design and the public realm.
Ken Lum is an artist of long standing who has exhibited widely in numerous important global art exhibitions. He is co-founder of Monument Lab, a think tank focused on analysing monumental and memorial forms as well as an active writer.
Paueru Gai Dialogues #8: Expanding Diasporic Imaginaries Saturday October 16, 2021 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM PDT / 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM EDT Online on Zoom FREE event, advance registration required (CLICK HERE) In the eighth Paueru Dialogues event, Ayumi Goto will be in conversation with Andrea Fatona, Peter Morin, and Abedar Kamgari. Coming from diverse communities of culture, art, … Read more
The Paueru Gai Dialogues #7 This event took place on Saturday, September 18th. Saturday September 18, 2021 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM PDT / 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM EDTOnline on ZoomFREE event, advance registration required Art as activism and relational connection to place have been threads throughout the Paueru Gai Dialogues, a pandemic series creating space for … Read more
The Paueru Gai Dialogues #6 Reconsidering Land, History and Belonging Date: June 26, 2021 Time: 1PM – 3PM PST / 4PM – 6PM EST Free admission. Registration Required. How can we fight against the dominant frameworks of capitalism and settler colonialism to conjure different futures? What does it mean to imagine new relationships to place? … Read more
The Paueru Gai Dialogues #5 The Changing Environment and Humanity Date: May 22, 2021 Time: 1PM – 3PM PST / 4PM – 6PM EST Free admission. Registration Required. Global warming and environmental protection are big inaccessible topics that point to news headlines, oil companies, pipelines and government policy. Guest host Haruko Okano will facilitate a … Read more
The Paueru Gai Dialogues #4 Old Roots and New Relationships on Indigenous Lands Date: April 24, 2021 Time: 1PM – 3PM PST / 4PM – 6PM EST Free admission. Registration Required. Link to register: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-paueru-gai-dialogues-4-tickets-148815333669 How can Japanese Canadians request the return of lost property in the Powell Street neighbourhood without perpetuating colonial practices? Guest … Read more
The Paueru Gai Dialogues #3 On Memory, Mythmaking and Community Resilience Date: March 27, 2021 Time: 1PM – 3PM PST / 4PM – 6PM EST Free admission. Registration Required. Link to register: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-paueru-gai-dialogues-3-tickets-143858989109 What, if anything, have we learned from our past? Are there ways we can harness this renewed sense of connection to heal … Read more
The Paueru Gai Dialogues #2 On Food & Culture for Community Building Date: February 27, 2021 Time: 1PM – 3PM PST / 4PM – 6PM EST Free admission. Registration Required. Link to register: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-paueru-gai-dialogues-2-tickets-139560295601?aff=erelpanelorg Guest host erica hiroko isomura will facilitate a discussion with panelists Carmel Tanaka, Kage, and Ingrid Mendez de Cruz as they … Read more
The Paueru Gai Dialogues #1 Catalyzing Social Equity through Culture & Connection to Place Date: January 30, 2021 Time: 1PM – 3PM PST / 4PM – 6PM EST Free admission. Registration Required. Guest host Izumi Sakamoto will facilitate a discussion with three panelists — Ayumi Goto, Kathy Shimizu and Terry Watada — as they share … Read more
This past year has been a particularly difficult one, and we hope that 2021 has good fortune in store for us all. As you may know, darumas are seen as symbols of perseverance and luck. They’re also the unofficial Powell Street Festival mascot! The eyes of the daruma are initially blank. They are meant to be filled in on one side when a wish is made and only completed on both when that wish is fulfilled. In the spirit of Powell … Read more
Notice of Special General Meeting Wednesday, October 14 6:30 pm PST (online) An online Special General Meeting will take place to vote on an amendment to Powell Street Festival Society’s Constitution, making an addition to its purposes. To attend, members are requested to email nathana@powellstreetfestival.com to register in advance and to receive a link to the online meeting. Proposed … Read more
