Janine Heather (foreground left), the very first Polish Polonaise ambassador in 1975, and Brantford International Villages Festival co-founder Frank Wdowczyk took part in a kielbasa-cutting ceremony to officially open the 50th anniversary of the festival on Wednesday July 3, 2024 at the Polish Hall in Brantford, Ontario. Fifteen villages can be visited through Saturday, July 6.Photo by Brian Thompson /The Expositor
Members of the Hejnal junior dancers perform during the 50th anniversary of the Brantford International Villages Festival on Wednesday.Photo by Brian Thompson /The Expositor
Members of the Hejnal intermediate dancers perform during the 50th anniversary of the Brantford International Villages Festival on Wednesday.Photo by Brian Thompson /The Expositor
Brantford’s town crier Dave McKee finishes his cry during opening ceremonies to officially open the 50th anniversary of the festival on Wednesday.Photo by Brian Thompson /The Expositor
Frank Wdowczyk, one of the founders of the Brantford International Villages Festival, applauds young dancers on the opening night of the 50th edition of the festival on Wednesday.Photo by Brian Thompson /The Expositor
Harman Randhawa, ambassador of the India Village, and village mayor Krupesh Shah show a painting of a drummer from a folk dance in the northern region of India on Wednesday.Photo by Brian Thompson /The Expositor
Marg Hicks was one of the first in the food line as the Hungarian Village opened on Wednesday night, picking up schnitzel dinners for herself and her husband Bill Hicks, as more than 50 people lined up behind her. Photo by Susan Gamble /The Expositor
Some of the young dancers at the Hungarian Village dressed and prepared to go onstage as part of the entertainment on Wednesday night as the city’s International Villages kicked off.Photo by Susan Gamble /The Expositor
Filipino food was on the menu and dancers performed for a packed house at the Philippine Village held at Sydenham-Heritage United Church on Wednesday at the opening of the International Villages.Photo by Susan Gamble /The Expositor
The chef and kitchen team at the Philippine Village served hot food to hundreds of visitors on Wednesday night during the opening of Brantford’s International Villages.Photo by Susan Gamble /The Expositor
Dancers perform for a packed house at the Philippine Village held at Sydenham-Heritage United Church on Wednesday at the opening of the International Villages.Photo by Susan Gamble /The Expositor
Norm Philpott (left) and Doug Linn, co-chairs of the New York, New York Village sold a lot of New York-style cheesecake on Wednesday to a full capacity crowd as the International Villages kicked off.Photo by Susan Gamble /The Expositor
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Brantford’s annual International Villages Festival started with a bang on Wednesday night as people lined up to get in to some of the 15 celebrations of culture from around the world.
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“We were filled to capacity right away, which is nice,” said Doug Linn, the co-chair of the New York, New York village at the Bellview Community Hall on Tom Street.
The village was serving up New York style pizza slices and cheesecake and had a line of people waiting to get in.
At the Hungarian Hall on Albion Street, there was a line up both to get in, and at least 60 people queuing to reach the food offerings of schnitzel, cabbage rolls and potatoes.
“It was packed last year – we were blown away by the turnout,” said club president John Berki.
“We didn’t know whether to plan for another big year or what, so we made 8,000 cabbage rolls and saved over 4,000 of them for the villages.”
Berki said by the time Saturday night ends with the last performances of dancing and the final cabbage roll is consumed, it’s likely the Brantford and District Hungarian Club will have seen 3,000 people over the four-night festival.
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The cultures represented this year include British, Chinese, East Coast Canada, Hungarian, India, Italian, Muslim, New York, New York, Palestinian, Philippine, Polish Polonaise, Polish Warszawa, Scottish, Ukrainian and United Africa.
The colourfully decorated hall at the Sydenham-Heritage United Church on Sydenham Street was packed early Wednesday night with visitors enjoying traditional Filipino food and dances.
“We’ve had a good turnout and there’s a line at the door,” said Manuel Baluyot, the president of the Filipino-Canadian Association of Brantford.
Baluyot’s wife, Lilia Baluyot, taught a team of young people various representative dances from the Philippines and a kitchen team worked to create hundreds of spring rolls and meat skewers to serve.
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In a tip of the hat to International Villages celebrating its 50th anniversary, after starting in Brantford in 1974, the Polish Polonaise Village featured dancers form the 1970s who are returning to perform on Friday and Saturday nights.
During that village’s traditional “ribbon-cutting” where kielbasa is cut rather than a ribbon, some of the honours went to the village’s first ambassador, Janine Heather, and Frank Wdowczyk, one of the festival’s founding members.
With the villages winding down, patrons can still purchase a festival passport for $10 at any of the villages for access to all locations.
There is also a free shuttle bus between the villages.
For more information, go to www.brantfordvillages.ca
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