Preparations begin for Regina’s Mosaic cultural festival with medallion ceremony

The Mosaic Medallion Ceremony officially kicked off preparations for the annual celebration of cultures in Regina.

To kick-off Saskatchewan’s longest running multicultural festival, people from various cultural organizations attended the Mosaic Medallion Ceremony in Regina.

“We’ve got 15 pavilions, and every pavilion has an ambassador who is ahead of the pavilion,” explained Terry Zwarych, Mosaic chair for the Regina Multicultural Council (RMC).

“This is the ceremony where they get their medallions. It’s just to signify to everybody else that they are the one in charge of the pavilion and it’s just a thank you for all of the hundreds of hours that they put into doing the pavilion.”

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Mosaic: A Festival of Cultures focuses on celebrating and educating the public about various ethno-cultural communities through an annual three-day festival.

In addition to Zwarych, Lieutenant Governor Bernadette McIntyre, RMC president John Findura and Mayor of Regina Chad Bachynski also presented the medallions.

Bachynski shared his enthusiasm for the positive event.

“This really signifies the importance of coming together as a community, sharing the excitement together and celebrating everything each of the cultures bring together into our community,” he said.

Going into its 55th anniversary, Zwarych shared the history behind how the event first started.

“With all of the cultures, [this festival] all started with them doing a little bit of a concert, then it grew into pavilions where people started to show off their cultures to invite people into the culture, the food and everything else,” Zwarych said.

This year, there are 15 pavilions which include First Nations, Metis, China, Scottland, Poltava Ukraine, Kyiv, Philippines, Latin, Italy, Indian, Hispanic, Hellenic, Chinese, Balaton Hungarian, and Austrian.

The festival will be happening on June 5-7. People can purchase their Mosaic Passports online from the RMC, member organizations or at the pavilion directly.