Loverboy on Sunday, June 30, 2019 at Tecumseh Park in Chatham during the Festival of Nations event. (Photo by Cheryl Johnstone)Loverboy on Sunday, June 30, 2019 at Tecumseh Park in Chatham during the Festival of Nations event. (Photo by Cheryl Johnstone)
Chatham

2020 Festival of Nations ready to officially launch

Organizers are getting ready to launch a summer-time event that returned to Chatham-Kent in 2019 after a 20-year hiatus.

The 2020 Festival of Nations is scheduled to take place from July 3 until July 5.

Co-chairs Tracy Callaghan and Dava Robichaud sprung into action last year to plan the three-day event. It meant something special considering the last Festival of Nations was held in 1998. Now that the event is back for another year, Callaghan said they're prepared for what to expect.

"We had so much fun doing this last year but we need to bring in a little extra help," she said. "We took on the challenge last year in a short period of time so this year, we have learned some lessons and we want to bring in extra people and have them give us some input."

To recruit volunteers and vendors, a launch celebration will be held at the Retro Suites' Derby Room on Wednesday night from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.

"We are looking for more volunteers, vendors, sponsors, and entertainers," said co-chair Dava Robichaud. "We also want to invite back the volunteers and vendors we had last year because they were a huge part of our success."

In terms of entertainment, the 2019 festival featured Canadian rock-band Loverboy as well as local bands and cultural groups. For this year's entertainment, Callaghan said they do have some ideas on what they would like to bring in but for now, they're in the planning process.

Mayor Darrin Canniff will be helping out as a co-chair this year. He said it's just one more thing that will attract some buzz around the community.

"This is a great day for us to celebrate multiculturalism in Chatham-Kent," he said. "It's going to be a really big event. We want all of Chatham-Kent to come out to this. We hope to have tens of thousands of people come out over the three days.

"We can't wait," said Canniff.

For residents who are unable to attend the launch but want to be involved in the 2020 Festival of Nations, volunteers will be taking calls at (519) 354-7424.

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