Multicultural Festival planned for Woodstock
“We have simple goals for the festival,” said registered nurse and Planet Youth co-lead Alie Ross. “We want to bring together community members from Woodstock and the broader Western Valley Region to build a sense of belonging through celebrating culture, diversity, and inclusion.”
Ross addressed Woodstock Town Council, presenting information on the festival. She said its biggest component will be youth involvement.
“Young people are actively involved in the planning and organizing of the event,’ she told the mayor and councillors. “Young people will also be volunteers, performers, vendors and exhibitors.”
Planet Youth is a pilot program that focuses on finding ways to encourage youth away from drugs and alcohol. Since it began in 2022, most of its funding has come through the government via the Department of Public Health.
Rather than telling kids not to abuse substances, Planet Youth aims to understand the causes and give children better outlets. They have been looking at various ways to support them through peer groups, school environments, family leisure time, and the community as a whole.
“Our intention is to understand and act on root causes,” explained Ross. “That’s what makes Planet Youth a bit different from a traditional substance use prevention approach. There’s no focus on abstinence. We’re not simply focused on telling young people don’t do drugs.”
As part of the program, Grade 10 students were asked to complete surveys in 2025. One of the many things they learned from that survey was that only 31 per cent of respondents felt they were “reflected and represented in their community.”
That result inspired the idea to have a multicultural festival in the town. Planet Youth Woodstock is working together with Woodstock First Nation Health Centre and the Multicultural Association of Carleton County, along with some financial support from the Woodstock Rotary Club, to bring the festival together.
It will be held in the NBCC Woodstock gym and parking area on Saturday, Aug. 15 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will include local artisans, music, dancing, food vendors, live art demonstrations, sport demonstrations, and a youth cultural showcase.
During her presentation to the Woodstock Town Council on July 14, Ross requested that the council and local police consider attending and participating in the festival in some capacity. She also requested that they make a financial contribution towards the festival and help promote it to get the word out to as many people as possible.
Council agreed to donate $1,000 towards the event out of their community sponsorship budget.
“I do like your approach,” praised Councillor Keith Bull, who is a former police officer. “Talking about the hazards, the dangers and scare tactics doesn’t work.”
Fellow Woodstock Planet Youth co-leader Emily Shapiro said that police were already doing an amazing job on the education side of drug and alcohol prevention.
Planet Youth’s focus was on finding ways to make young people feel safe, included, and connected to the community they live in. The festival is one way they feel they can, buoyed by the desire they’ve heard from students in recent years to embrace multiculturalism in their community.
