'We have to find some healing': Mobile stage spreads positive message during pandemic

Mini outdoor concerts held in region From CTV Kitchener's Nicole Lampa: A small stage is hosting mini outdoor concerts to show support for communities hit hard by COVID-19.

KITCHENER — Earlier this month a group of children from the Emmanuel Day Care Centre in Waterloo were jumping around to music being played from a so-called Peace Stage.

"It is a trailer with this infrastructure, with the awning, so in the end what you have is like a moving stage," said Isabelle Cisterna, manager of cultural program and community engagement at Wilfrid Laurier University.

The Peace Stage was built in collaboration with the university’s community music program and Neruda Arts, a non-profit organization focused on music, dance, drama and the literary and visual arts.

It will be stopping in neighbourhoods around Waterloo Region that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

These small concerts will also have a big message.

"We care about you," said Cisterna. “We’re hoping this will go away someday. But in the meantime we have to find some healing.”

Live shows are currently on hold due to the COVID-19, however the stage is showcasing a video called ‘The Kindness Project’, with music from WLU students.

"To watch the music created by the students being heard by so many children, and being enjoyed by so many children and adults, is purely magical," said Tamara Menon, who is the artistic director of Neruda Arts and a recent grad from WLU’s music program.

WLU Library officials said the stage is an example of what Laurier is all about.

"That connection with the community, putting it on wheels, and taking it out to the community,” said Gohar Ashoughia, WLU Librarian.

"I think it’s important for us to go to the people," added Cisterna.

The next stops for the Peace Stage include: