The Indian Summer Festival kicked off on June 3 with their Opening Gala featuring a culinary tour of Asia by Vikram Vij, who curated the tasteful journey. The annual Indian Summer Festival was founded in 2011 with the support of SFU Woodward’s Cultural Unit and Teamwork Arts India.
Each July, over the course of two weeks, the Indian Summer Festival celebrates arts, ideas, and diversity in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. The founding festival directors, artistic director Sirish Rao and managing director Laura Byspalko, steer the operations and are supported by a dedicated leadership council, board of directors, and a team of seasonal employees and volunteers.
The aim of the Indian Summer Festival is to promote and build public awareness of artists of South Asian origin. Some of the creative features that are presented at the festival include performing, visual, literary and folk arts, which help foster an interchange of ideas between Canada and South Asia.
Trisha Dulku, SFU world literature student and this year’s volunteer coordinator for the Indian Summer Festival, says “The Indian Summer Festival is important because, outside of Ontario, Vancouver has one of the largest South Asian populations. It is important to have a forum where we can showcase the insights and ideas from different artists and intellectuals so that the community can begin to engage with one another and create a dialogue.”
This year’s festival presents an array of artists, poets, writers, and musicians. Some featured events include the readings of Rumi’s poems, translated and presented by Coleman Barks; the storytelling of Zarqa Nawaz, creator of Little Mosque on the Prairie; the Dabbawalas of Mumbai, who have come to share their stories of delivering lunch boxes across the busy city of Mumbai; and the culinary magic of Vikram Vij, whose fine food is served at a few of the events.
Dulku says that students can benefit from attending Indian Summer Festival events because, “they are a great networking opportunity and can often provide insights into topics that are culturally relevant. A good example of this is ‘An Evening with Reza Aslan’ which will be on July 11. This talk will provide fascinating and provocative insights into religious studies, which is always an important lens when examining the human character.”
Indian Summer runs from July 3 to July 12 at SFU Woodwards. For more information, visit indiansummerfestival.ca.
