Culture Days 2012 is Coming to Mississippi Mills!
Published on August 14th 2012
Home » Arts & Culture » Culture Days 2012 is Coming to Mississippi Mills!
by Arnie Francis
Culture Days (www.culturedays.ca) is a collaborative coast-to-coast-to-coast volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities. The third annual Culture Days weekend will take place September 28, 29 and 30, 2012, and will feature thousands of free, hands-on, interactive activities that invite the public to participate “behind-the-scenes,” to discover the world of artists, creators, historians, architects, curators, designers and other creative people in their communities.
Culture Days flyer
Culture Days in Ontario is planning a province-wide press release on September 10, 2012. This release will highlight how municipalities and arts councils are showing their support for arts and culture in their communities through Culture Days. M2C4 (see www.m2c4.ca) – which is facilitating the coordination of Culture Days in Mississippi Mills -has been successful in having the Town approve a Mayoral Proclamation for Culture Days and is pleased that the Town continues to provide visible support to the local cultural community.
The Culture Days organizers have developed tools and resources to help local event organizers to get their events up. Sponsors, such as Sun Life, and media partners, such as the CBC and the Globe and Mail, are gearing up for a huge, national media launch on September 17.
From a “Ridiculous Puppet Happening” in Guelph ON to “Art in the Park” in Brandon MB, communities all over are taking advantage of the momentum that this national cultural campaign is creating. These events are often “whistle-wetters” or “look-see” activities intended to introduce others to a particular artistic or cultural activity. Here in Mississippi Mills the following events have already been lined up:
- MVTM’s Inspirations from Africa and India
- MMMusicwork’s Ukulele for EVERYONE
- Almonte Jazz Club’s Jazz newbies and Jazz junkies workshop!
Event organizers have only four things to consider about putting together their Culture Days activity:
- FREE: It must be free to the public, but can be an “appetizer” for a priced event… e.g. a workshop on pottery, with a sign-up for a pottery course.
- PARTICIPATORY: it must encourage visitors and locals to participate, gather, connect, etc…
- REGISTER ON CD WEBSITE: Must register their activity on the Culture Days website, cross promote culture days, etc… There is no fee to register.
- ACTIVITY DURING CULTURE DAYS: The activity must fall on one of the days… this year, Sept 28, 29, 30.
M2C4 is hopeful that more cultural groups and cultural entrepreneurs will take advantage of this campaign to get their events registered prior to the national media launch. M2C4 Director Arnie Francis notes, “Mississippi Mills prides itself on being an energetic and diverse cultural community, from Pakenham to Appleton and Almonte to Clayton. So it would be great to have many more and different arts and culture events available for visitors and residents to participate in that weekend.”
Individuals or groups who are interested in organizing and registering a “look-see” event may contact M2C4 via the website (www.M2C4.ca) or register their activity directly at www.Culturedays.ca.
