The Festival of Cultures and the Immigrant of Distinction Awards both celebrated diversity in the city over the weekend.
The weekend was all about getting to know your neighbors, and Edith Montesclaros of the Newcomer Welcome Center says that the weekend has met its goal of bringing people together to celebrate their cultures.
Whether it's people are finding about different cultures, trying new foods or even just planning a vacation destination, Montesclaros says that she's always glad to see crowds come out to enjoy the event and take part in the Festival of Cultures.
"People really would like to have the global experience, travelling without leaving Yorkton."
The event is constantly changing, even with the groups that come out every year, and that's one of the appeals.
The event is also a chance for newcomers to get engaged in their communities, and Montesclaros says she has seen people who otherwise are quiet proudly stand up to talk about their cultures. She says that the chance to open up has had a positive effect on many of the attendees.
"Newcomers are shy, and I think this is a venue for them to talk to people freely without being shy to talk about their culture."
She says that they want to see the event grow.
The Immigrant of Distinction Awards has been a project Montes-claros has wanted to see happen for a while, as she says that there are many new members of the community who are making a major contribution to the community and aren't getting recognized. She claims that it is the first awards of its kind in the province.
"I thought that we should appreciate them, because they are helping not just the economy, but the diversity and multiculturalism in the community... They're here to stay and make the community more diverse."
The hope is to see more communities do a similar event to celebrate their own newcomers to their communities, and she says that she's proud that Yorkton is leading the province with the event.
Representing the winners of the Immigrant Group of the Year, Sherjan Maybantang and Bernard Arenas with the Saskatchewan-Melville and Area Happenings and Gathering (SaMAHanG) FiliCan, say that it is an honor to receive the award, and one they didn't expect to win. Maybantang says they didn't initially intend to pursue the nomination, but are proud of the achievement. He says it is still a small group, and he's proud to be recognized for their contributions to the community.
"They believe in us," adds Arenas.
The goal with the group is to be a part of the community and work with others as part of the community as a whole, Maybantang explains.
"The most important thing to recognize in our group is who we are in our multi-cultural community, how we can learn about other cultures and how they can learn about us."
The winners at the event were:
Youth Scholarship Award - Amitada "J.J." Chogata
Arts and Culture - Parkland Filipino Cana-dian Association Inc.
Business Award - Mauricio Gomez
Distinguished Service Award - Vivian Quan
Volunteer Award - Oksana Burback
Organizational Diversity Award - McDonalds Restaurant
Immigrant Group of the Year Award - SaMAHanG FiliCan.
Immigrant of the Year Award - Jobert del Rosario.
