Luminara will sparkle in September!
VICTORIA, BC, CANADA (July 14, 2010)

Who: You and your neighbours
What: Luminara workshops, neighbourhood illumination and local events
When: Leading up to and throughout the week of September 18 to 25
Where: In your neighbourhood

A new neighbourhood based lantern celebration is starting to take root in Victoria!

Community centres and groups are joining together to host a constellation of small local events to keep the Luminara tradition sparkling. This year, from North Park to Fernwood to Fairfield to James Bay, look for community lantern-making workshops in the weeks leading up to the festival. Come and learn how to build your own lantern to carry through your neighbourhood, or an installation to light up your front yard, balcony or window.

During the week of illuminated celebrations from September 18 to 25, take a walk around your neighbourhood with family and friends to see the local lantern art and meet your neighbours. Local celebrations will be part of the festivities, with Luminara costumes and music. Interactive community maps will be posted in the four pilot neighbourhoods this year, for local residents to mark their lantern installations. Next year your neighbourhood could be on the Luminara map too! Check our website for ways to get involved.

“We have to start small this year,” said Luminara Festival Director Karin Scarth. “This is a big change, and we want to lay a good foundation for the festival to build sustainably over time. We’re working with a much smaller budget than we have ever had before but there is a fantastic community of creative people who love Luminara and want to see the tradition continue, and that commitment is the most valuable resource.”

The Luminara website http://www.icavictoria.org/luminara will have up to date information on times and locations for workshops, events and how to make safe and creative lanterns to light up your neighbourhood.

Contact:
Karin Scarth
Luminara Festival Director
250-388-4728 ext 129 cell: 250-208-3821
kscarthicavictoria [dot] org
http://www.icavictoria.org

About the Inter-Cultural Association and Luminara
The Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA) has produced the Luminara Lantern Festival every July in Beacon Hill Park since 2000, when ICA was approached by the City of Victoria to produce a community celebration. The lantern festival was inspired by the many festivals of light held in countries around the world. This unique and exciting cultural event has enhanced community development by bringing groups and individuals around the region together in a creative celebration, to build social capital and community cohesiveness.

In 2010, funding sources for Luminara have been cut by almost 80%. Faced with cancelling the event, ICA decided instead to work collaboratively with local community centres and groups to develop creative and sustainable new directions. The new structure of neighbourhood-based celebration has the potential to become a Victoria wide tradition.

Since 1971, ICA has been serving the multicultural and immigrant community in Greater Victoria. As an ICA program, Luminara is a part of creating a welcoming community that accepts and appreciates cultural diversity. At its Immigrant Welcome Centre, ICA offers ESL classes and settlement services for newcomers, as well as community workshops on diversity and cross-cultural awareness.