Burlington Mundialization Committee Celebrates Spring with two Twin-City Events on May 14
*Please see below a news release issued by the City of Burlington.
Burlington, Ont. — April 27, 2022 — The City of Burlington’s Mundialization Committee is celebrating spring with two events on Saturday, May 14, in honour of Burlington’s twin cities, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands and Itabashi, Japan.Canada Netherlands Friendship Day – May 14, starting at 10 a.m.The annual celebration of Canada Netherlands Friendship Day will recognize the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands by the Canadian Armed Forces and the 17th anniversary of the City of Burlington’s twinning with the City of Apeldoorn. The event starts at 10 a.m. at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre, 440 Locust St, and will feature:
- Raising of the Canadian and Dutch flags
- Greetings from Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, Consul General of the Netherlands, Harman Idema and Elizabeth Witmer, former Deputy Premier of Ontario
- Presentation from B.T. Lindley Public School
- Musical interludes by members of the Burlington Teen Tour Band
- Apeldoorn and Burlington student artwork display.
Sakura Festival – May 14, starting at 1 p.m.The Sakura Festival will celebrate the Japanese cherry blossom at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre from1 to 3 p.m. The free event will offer:
- Greetings from Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Consul General of Japan, SASAYAMA Takuya
- A Japanese drumming performance from Do Kon Daiko
- A demonstration from Shudokan Family Karate
- A Koto performance from Mari Kunsanagi and Logan Scott
- A singing and shamisen performance from Ten Ten Canada, featuring TAKAHASHI Aki
- A performance from dance group Sakuramai
Other events planned in celebration of Burlington’s twin city, Itabashi, Japan, include:
- A paid performance from Japanese musician Nagata Shachu at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre at 4 p.m. on May 14. Learn more at Burlington Performing Arts Centre.
- The Taste of Japan event at Japanese restaurants in Burlington throughout the month of May, organized by Tourism Burlington. Learn more at Burlington Tourism.
Burlington’s Mundialization Committee strives to connect Burlington to the world through events and initiatives and to promote the City of Burlington as "A World Community" dedicated to the United Nations philosophy of peaceful co-operation among the peoples of the world and encourage community understanding of different cultures global issues.
"Our city’s Mundialization Committee does some amazing work when it comes to spreading awareness – within our own community and beyond -- of the strong and deep-rooted friendship between Burlington and our twin cities: Apeldoorn, the Netherlands and Itabashi, Japan. Our citizens have learned so much from the sharing of information, culture and friendship between our cities over the years. As Burlington’s Mayor, I am proud of the bonds we continue to develop with our twin cities and hope everyone will come out to these upcoming events to see what makes these relationships so special." -- Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward"The arrival of spring brings us the opportunity celebrate our twin city relationships with Itabashi, Japan and Apeldoorn, Netherlands. In the morning, we will mark Canada Netherlands Friendship Day which has its origin in the liberation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands by Canadian Armed Forces in May 1945, now 77 years ago. Celebrating our historic bond, we are reminded that freedom is fragile. In the afternoon, the Sakura Festival is held to coincide with the blooming of the Sakura in Spencer Smith Park. Japanese for cherry blossom, the blooming of the Sakura is a significant cultural event in Japan." -- Hassan Raza, Burlington Mundialization Committee Chair
Links and ResourcesFor more information about the Mundialization Committee and the spring events, visit www.burlington.ca/mund--*Posted by John Bkila, Mayor's Media and Digital Communications Specialist