FOLKLORAMA: Pivoting for the Preservation of Culture

By Tanya Williams

Folklorama is an organization that promotes the ethno-cultural diversity of Manitoba, Canada through entertainment and public celebrations of culture and education. Folklorama provides the opportunity for ethno-cultural communities to promote and celebrate their intangible culture.

In August, Folklorama hosts a Festival at 40 unique venues. It is a two-week celebration where the motto of “travel around the world while staying in one city – Winnipeg” is strong. Visitors witness world-class entertainment, enjoy delicious authentic cuisine, take-in vivid displays, and experience the beautiful cultures that make up the fabric of Winnipeg. Folklorama is known as the largest and longest-running multicultural Festival of its kind in the world.

And then Covid-19 hit. On April 24, 2020, Folklorama made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 event. The cancellation not only directly impacted the operations team, but it also impacted over 40 ethno-cultural communities.

With the mantra of “When culture isn’t celebrated – it becomes lost” securely in our hearts, the Folklorama Operations team began to brainstorm. They quickly pivoted to a new model of Folklorama At Home, At Work, At School, and At Play. Essentially the Folklorama Operations team took what everyone loves about Folklorama, and created mini-festivals that could be brought Covid safely to people’s backyards, senior homes, schools, and driveways. Within weeks, over 80 events were booked.

Here is some of the amazing feedback received:

• “All of the performers exceeded our expectations in terms of the time they performed and their willingness to be flexible with space and timing.”

• “Very happy with the event. The Irish dancers were fantastic. Set-up was a breeze. They were a part of a birthday party and everything in attendance agreed it was a very unique and enjoyable addition. Would definitely recommend booking to others in the future.”

• “What an amazing experience. It was truly more than I could have ever imagined. Something my family and I will cherish forever!”

Thinking of more ways to assist the struggling communities, the team launched the Folklorama Cultural Preservation Fund. The Fund was established to align with Folklorama’s mandate of celebrating diversity and promoting cultural understanding. This Fund will provide Folklorama members access to funds to support their ongoing or new projects that celebrate, educate, promote, and preserve culture after a year or successful fundraising.

Like many other events, Folklorama does not have a crystal ball. What they do have is an incredible volunteer membership and operations team who are planning for many different scenarios in 2021.

To read more about what Folklorama has accomplished in 2020, visit folklorama.ca.

A 25-year marketing and communications veteran, Tanya Williams joined Folklorama as the director of marketing and communications just before Covid-19 started. As a graduate of Ryerson University majoring in radio and television, Tanya drove the marketing, communications, and public relations for the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba – including the Children’s Miracle Network program. Before making her way back home to Manitoba, she spent over 17 years in Toronto with National Event Management, Canada’s Wonderland, Canadian Film Centre, and numerous television stations. Giving back to her community is very important to her. In her spare time, she likes to inspire youth as a Girl Guide leader and runs senior cheer-up programs in her spare time.

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