Toronto Non Violence Festival 2006

In Kitchener-Waterloo our celebration was held on Saturday the 13th.

The 2nd annual Non-Violence Festival was held in a park, from noon until 11pm. In the afternoon was a 'Fair' that had vendor, community group and craft tables as well as speakers, performers, and food. In the evening was a concert that featured local bands.

The event drew around 500 people. None of us can agree on the number. But, we can agree that it is the largest HM organized event in our experience.

Our structure of 7 began the organizing 6 months ago. Through postering we quickly grew a volunteers list. Because of this perceived support we began to broaden our scope of the event. The event grew bigger week by week as the 'volunteers' list grew.

We new by last year's festival that weather was a concern. This year's festival had no rain, but the weather reports leading up to the day, and for that day, called for rain and cool temperatures.

The day of, most vendors, speakers and community groups showed up, but of our list of 80 non-structure-volunteers, only 11 helped out. The rest of the volunteers were family of the structure or of volunteers.

The day did not run as smoothly as we hoped, and the weather kept away a few guests, but when the day was done, we learned (and continue to learn) a great deal, and a clear message of non-violence was expressed.

Next year's planning starts Thursday!

PFJ Matt

Clere here to see photos.



			Kitchener-Waterloo Non-Violence Festival 2006 In Kitchener-Waterloo our celebration was held on Saturday the 13th. The 2nd annual Non-Violence Festival was held in a park, from noon until 11pm. In the afternoon was a 'Fair' that had vendor, community group and craft tables as well as speakers, performers, and food. In the evening was a concert that featured local bands. The event drew around 500 people. None of us can agree on the number. But, we can agree that it is the largest HM organized event in our experience. Our structure of 7 began the organizing 6 months ago. Through postering we quickly grew a volunteers list. Because of this perceived support we began to broaden our scope of the event. The event grew bigger week by week as the 'volunteers' list grew. We new by last year's festival that weather was a concern. This year's festival had no rain, but the weather reports leading up to the day, and for that day, called for rain and cool temperatures. The day of, most vendors, speakers and community groups showed up, but of our list of 80 non-structure-volunteers, only 11 helped out. The rest of the volunteers were family of the structure or of volunteers. The day did not run as smoothly as we hoped, and the weather kept away a few guests, but when the day was done, we learned (and continue to learn) a great deal, and a clear message of non-violence was expressed. Next year's planning starts Thursday! PFJ Matt Clere here to see photos.