ATTRACTS RECORD CROWDS OF 250,000 WITH FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY AND NEW FOOD SELECTIONS
TORONTO, ON – AUGUST 30, 2019 – Once again, the fifth annual Tamil Fest, hosted by the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), was a resounding success, building upon its past performance and maintaining its position as Scarborough’s pre-eminent outdoor festival. The two-day affair, officially launched in the presence of many dignitaries, including Mayor John Tory, took place on August 24th and 25th, 2019 on Markham Road which was closed between McNicoll and Passmore Avenues. Tamil Fest attendance for 2019, at approximately 250,000 was the largest ever and a testament to how popular the festival is, with not only the Tamil community, but all other communities in the GTA. Sivan Ilangko, President of CTC in his inaugural speech welcomed all the dignitaries and guests and also thanked all the sponsors, supporters and volunteers who helped to organize this mega event.
The Greater Toronto Area lays claim to more than 250,000 residents of Tamil ancestry, the largest Tamil community outside of the Indian subcontinent and Tamil Fest allowed visitors to experience Canadian Tamil culture in all of its multi-faceted glory. The Festival however, is much more than the celebration of the Tamil community in Canada – it is also a celebration of Canada’s multiculturalism as evidenced by the number of visitors from other communities enjoying the food and tapping to the wonderful music and songs provided by both local and international Tamil artistes.
As with any Tamil celebration, food was an important consideration, over 20 food vendors offered mouth-watering Tamil dishes that were prepared just for the festival. But Tamil Fest is much more than the delicious food that was served! Visitors were treated to free entertainment in the form of dance, music and songs on not one but two stages; the Red-Carpet Stage and the Main Stage. The Red-Carpet Stage featured some of the finest Tamil dancers and singers in the GTA and was the home of Tamil Fest’s annual Diversity Hour featuring unique acts from Egypt, China, Korea and Mexico. The main stage concerts rocked the event on both nights, featuring amazing local bands such as Megatuners and Agni accompanied by some of the world’s most famous Tamilplayback singers from Northern Sri Lanka and South India. In total, over 450 artists were featured at Tamil Fest 2019 during the course of two days, most of whom from the considerable local talent pool.
The curiosity of the visitors was whetted by the Tamil history exhibit hoisted on a flatbed truck chronicling over 2000 years of Tamil history including the Chola Empire that extended to Sri Lanka and parts of Cambodia and Thailand, as well as the significance of new archaeological findings in Keezhadi, South India. TamilFest also further publicized the Toronto Tamil Chair campaign supported by CTC, an initiative to establish an academic unit to support Tamil Studies at the University of Toronto, a fitting goal for the largest Tamil community outside the Indian sub-continent. The Counting the Dead campaign by Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) was also a part of TamilFest. The initiative seeks to provide a more precise number of those who lost their lives, not only during the over 30 year civil war, but from communal riots and the excesses of the Sri Lankan armed forces from 1948 onwards, when Sri Lanka gained its independence from Britain. Once complete, the results of the Counting the Dead initiative will be used to memorialize the dead as well as assist in the continuing campaign of the Tamil diaspora for justice and accountability to be meted out in Sri Lanka.
The dedicated Kids’ Fun Zone was popular once again, with the midway rides attracting thousands of children of all ages. This year featured lots of prizes with many of our sponsors presenting fun give-aways including numerous draws of a cash prize of $500 by the Title Sponsor TNext Communications.
History of TamilFest and the Organizer, the Canadian Tamil Congress
The Festival is organized by the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), a not-for-profit organization, managed by a volunteer Board whose current President is Sivan Ilangko. Day to day activities are the responsibility of CTC’s Executive Director, Danton Thurairajah. While the Tamil community has significantly contributed to Canada over the last 30 years and has been recognized as a model community by political leaders of all stripes, most recently in Mayor Tory’s address at the 2019 TamilFest, the festival is perhaps the most high profile and visible way in which the community contributes to the socio-economic fabric of the great City of Toronto.
The Festival began as a celebration Canadian Tamil cuisine and culture. It has grown to become a celebration that showcases and highlights the very best of the Tamil community locally and internationally. While a number of the events and programs are reflective of the area’s Tamil roots, the Festival programming and its audience, have grown to encompass a much broader spectrum of the Toronto community.
The Festival began in 2015 when the Canadian Tamil Congress decided to create a unique platform to showcase the numerous business achievements of the Tamil community, its mouth-watering cuisine and provide an opportunity for both local and international Tamil artistes to perform in front of a diverse Canadian audience.
In the first year, approximately 120,000 people attended the Festival. Each subsequent year the festival has grown dramatically and continually featured new exhibitions and talent. Today, the Festival, in its fifth year has grown to over 250,000 attendees from all communities who come to enjoy the food, the free entertainment and Tamil culture. Tamil Fest has quickly become one of Toronto’s signature events and the largest event of its kind, east of Yonge Street, showcasing the best of what our multicultural city has to offer: music, the classical arts and amazing cuisine.
For more information visit: www.tamilfest.ca
Photo Credit: Ninaivukal.
