A celebration of Saskatoon’s heritage and cultural roots took place Sunday, at the 2024 Heritage Festival. People of all ethnicities were out celebrating what it means to live in Saskatoon, and the cultures groups who live here.
City archivist Jeff O’Brien said the city has records that go back as early as the 1880s, and that looking back on photos and documents allows us to re-experience the past in a modern way.
“Archives take a snapshot of the past and let us revisit the same moments over and over again with different questions and different ideas of how history works and how people work,” O’Brien said. “When you and I think about 20, 50, or 100 years ago, it’s something that happened a long time ago but in archives, it’s always right now.”
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Culturally, it’s hard to talk about the make-up of Saskatchewan without mentioning the Ukrainian community.
The Ukrainian Museum of Canada was on hand at the Heritage Festival, discussing the traditions and roots of the culture in the province, but also emphasizing the similarities with other cultures. similarities and recognizing our differences.
“It’s awesome because you can see all the other cultures, but it is awesome to see how similar we are in some aspects and how different we are in others,” Anastasia Misan with the museum said. “We are all together today regardless of culture. We are all friends and it is really important to show off the heritage of the province.”
The festival will run until Feb. 8c, with all events being free to participate in.
Check out the video at the top to see just what Saskatoon’s history is all about, and more from the 2024 Heritage Festival.
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