Organizers of the Powell Street Festival announced today they will move their planned festivities on Aug. 1-3 from Oppenheimer Park after protestors set up camp last week to protest the lack of affordable housing in the Downtown Eastside to assert aboriginal title to the land.
"We acknowledge and respect the concerns of the homeless and community residents in the Oppenheimer Park area, located on unceded Coast Salish territory," organizers said in a press release on Thursday (July 24). "For this reason, the Powell Street Festival Society will not use the area of Oppenheimer Park where the protest is taking place and do not support the removal order or the threat of removal of residents in the park in any way."
Festival organizers are currently in talks with the City of Vancouver to secure a nearby space to host the outdoor event. Organizers had initially hoped to close off a section of Powell Street to accommodate the outdoor stage, but after discussions with the City that is likely not possible, according to Owen Cameron of Spoke PR, who handles communications for the festival.
"We are still working with the City to find a solution and we are optimistic," said Cameron.
The Oppenheimer Park stage is one of seven venues for the Powell Street Festival, and the loss of the venue will mean the festival's main stage, craft booth, and community booth will have to be moved.
Cameron said events planned for the other venues, including the Jackson Street outdoor stage, won't be affected.
"We are trying to find more street access for crowds and craft vendors," he said. "If we have to move the [Oppenheimer Park] stage elsewhere and have to move it inside somewhere, it may affect programming."
The Powell Street Festival celebrates Japanese-Canadian art and culture in the historic Japanese-Canadian neighbourhood of which Oppenheimer Park has been the historic heart. The park was once home to the legendary Asahi baseball team and the centre of a vibrant community prior to the Japanese-Canadian internment of the Second World War.
"During [the Second World War], the community experienced the confiscation of their homes and businesses, detention, relocation and internment. As such the Powell Street Festival Society has empathy for the current situation," stated organizers in their press release. "We understand that while we have celebrated the Japanese Canadian community in the historically significant location of Oppenheimer Park for the last 37 years, there are many other issues at stake that create challenges for a timely resolution."
The three-day outdoor festival is the longest running community-based arts and culture festival in the Lower Mainland, now in its 38th year. The event features contemporary Japanese Canadian artists, Japanese food, taiko drumming, sumo wrestling, and live music.
For updates on event location and details, visit it PowellStreetFestival.com
