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AHA MEDIA is very proud to help provide social media coverage of the 10th Annual Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival 2013 in Vancouver
AHA MEDIA is very proud to help provide social media coverage of the 10th Annual Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival in Vancouver from Wednesday October 23
to Sunday November 3, 2013
See AHA MEDIA’s coverage of last year’s Heart of the City Festival 2012 in reverse chronological order.
Below is Peter Davies of AHA MEDIA holding the Brand New Heart of the City Festival 2013 Festival Program guide
The 10th Annual Downtown Eastside
Heart of the City Festival
Wednesday October 23
to Sunday November 3, 2013
Our purpose is to live in community, and community is care, care for one another, care for those least able to care for themselves, care for all, care in action.
– Bud Osborn
The festival, and the Downtown Eastside community, is recognized across Canada as a leader in community arts. Since our founding the festival has presented over 1,000 events featuring approximately 10,000 artists of all ages, backgrounds, abilities, cultural backgrounds and art forms.
The Downtown Eastside is the heart of the City, the founding neighbourhood where Vancouver began, and is the home of choice for thousands of the City’s residents. To celebrate the Festival’s 10th Anniversary, and to honour the talents, wisdom and power of our home community, the 2013 theme is: “Drawing Strength from Our Roots.”
Featuring over 80 events at over 25 locations throughout the Downtown Eastside with special anniversary events including the premiere of Bread and Salt on the post-festival weekend of November 8-10. Join us and enjoy our annual feast of twelve days of music, stories, songs, poetry, cultural celebrations, films, theatre, dance, processions, spoken word, workshops, discussions, gallery exhibits, mixed media, art talks, history talks, walking tours, and a diverse array of artist showcases.
We have an abundance of special 10th Annual events, including among others:
• Women In Fish, a tribute to women in the fishing industry. An urban ink production;
• Out on a Limb, a multimedia event of stories, images and song about growing up and growing older. Produced by The Only Animal in association with PHS Community Services;
• Taiko Roots in the Heart of the City!, a tribute to taiko drumming in Vancouver featuring Sansho Daiko, Katari Taiko, Uzume Taiko, LOUD, Sawagi Taiko and Chibi Taiko;
• Hot Jazz at the Carnegie with the Carnegie Jazz Band (Brad Muirhead, Band Leader). A showcase new original jazz music from the community;
• Listening to Truth, Seeking Reconciliation, a talkumentary evening to ask “what does reconciliation mean to you?” Also featuring Iskwew Singers and their spirit lifting harmonies;
• CONNECT performed by Karen Jamieson and the Carnegie Dance Troupe;
• Bread and Salt, tribute to the historic Ukrainian Canadian community in the historic East End. Presented by Vancouver Moving Theatre with the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians.
Plus lots more!!
The mandate of the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival is to profile and foster the development of community arts in the Downtown Eastside – from community building and bridge building, to celebrating artists and cultures, to giving voice to local concerns. The festival involves a wide range of professional, community, emerging and student artists, and lovers of the arts. Over 1,000 artists participated in last year’s 2012 Festival.
Most events are free or suggested donation.
Visit the Heart of the City Festival website
http://www.heartofthecityfestival.com
On page 9 of the Festival Program guide, there is a writeup on AHA MEDIA
The Festival is thrilled to partner with the DTES’s AHA Media to provide social media coverage (video/photos/blog) of the Heart of the City Festival. AHA Media gives voice to our local community and provides services for individuals and organizations to share their news and special events on a broader scale through social media. Founded in 2008 by local artists April Smith, Hendrik Beune, and Al Tkatch, AHA Media previously collaborated with Fearless City Media and has an ongoing working relationship with W2Community Media Arts and various other organizations and individuals in the DTES community. The members of AHA Media describe themselves as “definitely not mainstream media”. Based in Vancouver’s DTES, their style is described as non-invasive and unassuming.
Say Hello to AHA Media as they visit the Festival events. They will be happy to chat with you. Stay connected to the festival with AHA’s links – see photos/videos of the festival events you attended; take in a festival event you missed; or follow one festival event while you are attending another!
Follow AHA MEDIA on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Flickr!
AHA MEDIA Twitter @AHAMEDIA @AprilFilms
AHA MEDIA Facebook http://www.facebook.com/AHAMEDIA
AHA Media YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/AHAFilm
AHA Media Flickr Photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/AHAMEDIA/sets
Heart of the City Festival 2013
The complete 2012 Festival Program is now available!
Click here for a list of locations throughout the city where you can pick up a guide.
Click here to view 2013 Festival Program online
To be notified of changes and updates, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
And make sure you check out our Festival Picks, a list of some of the anticipated highlights of this year’s festival.
DNC Meets with Vancouver City Council about Future of DTES LAPP
Ten board members of the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council met with Councillors Andrea Reimer and ony Tang to discuss the extension of the DTES LAP process and options for future engagement in Vancouver
Pigeon Park Street Market in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES) on Sunday Oct 13 2013
Sunny breezy weather during Sunday Street Market had vendors and peer workers of the DTES Street Market Society enjoying a fun Thanksgiving in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES)
Roland Clarke, Coordinator says:
The first sunny day in weeks came to the DTES on Sunday.
We had very little police presence, and very few incidents. The market was packed with near record number of vendors and customers, and we had a film crew with AHA Media doing a promo piece for us.One of our patron funders from the City of Vancouver – George Walker – came down to the market twice and had some very kind and supportive words for us.
The holiday spirit was in the air, lots of Halloween costumes and fun items were present. Lots of people were talking about upcoming Thanksgiving feasts.
We got a huge donation of hockey equipment that we could not sell, but come look for it next week.
It is on days like this that I have renewed faith in the DTES and its residents. Rain or shine, the market will continue. If we get a brief respite from the rain, a huge crowd returns to the square and fills this area with life.
We have 52 markets per year. This dwarfs any other festival in the city. In fact, I like to think of the DTES Street Market as the Iron Man of Vancouver Festivals. Always there, every Sunday, with virtually no funding and no support, the Market will soldier on. It embodies the spirit of the DTES – that against any hardship, any weather, any attacks, we will persevere.
Come down and buy a coffee or a pop any given Sunday, and support your neighbourhood at its finest.
Pigeon Park Street Market in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES) on Sunday Oct 6 2013
Gorgeous Warm weather during Sunday Street Market had vendors and peer workers of the DTES Street Market Society enjoying a festival atmosphere in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES)
Roland Clarke, Coordinator says:
Solidarity in Vending
The weather was awesome. Perhaps the last great day of the year, it was almost summer again. A great break from the two Sundays of rain we just survived.
There is a subject that I’ve been thinking about for quite some time, and it is a subtle, but important one. The subject is why we, as coordinators of the market actually spend a portion of the day selling things ourselves.
During the day, I, Roland spend a lot of the day selling coffee and pop to raise money for the market. Also, Jacek sells 50/50 raffle tickets. Between these two activities (and the renting of tents and tables) we manage to raise more than $200 per week on average that can help pay for street market incidentals. This allows us to fund experiments, like bannock and muffin sales, and also buy new tents and tables when they get broken. Having petty cash on hand is extremely valuable, and we couldn’t run the market without it. We also provide on average about $500 in change to shoppers that come in with $20 bills and need smaller denominations. This way the vendors also do not need to keep so much cash on hand.
There is an additional, very important reason that the organizers of a grass roots street market should themselves engage in survival vending. This is because it is an essential statement of solidarity with the vendors we are trying to organize and build community. We recognize that life is hard, and all the rest of the vendors must scrounge for ways to hustle and survive at the market, so we do it too. We have to find a way to sell coffee for $1, and still make a profit. We then provide this benefit to the community in the form of cheap beverages, which the vendors are happy to purchase from us. It is in this way that we have inserted ourselves into the ecosystem instead of just trying to manage it from above. This builds trust, it cements solidarity, and it allows us to understand and relate to the struggles of the population that we are trying to protect.
This is why we vend.
This is why we must continue to vend to keep the spirit of the market pure.
Meeting Mo Simpson, Filmmaker in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES)
A rare warm sunny day in October brought out a very happy meeting between AHA MEDIA and Mo Simpson, Filmmaker.
We at AHA MEDIA are always very grateful for Mo’s mentorship of our camera skills in the beginning of our journey.
Thanks always Mo! We love you! 🙂
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