Calgary Intercultural Festival: Celebrating 17 Years of Diversity and Togetherness
The 17th Calgary Intercultural Festival, organized by the BURC Intercultural Centre, was celebrated with great enthusiasm on August 15–16, 2026, at the Dalhousie Community Association.
After seven years, moving the festival back outdoors significantly increased the size of the festival crowd. Volunteers worked almost without taking a break to accommodate the large number of attendees. As always, the festival brought people from all cultures together to share in this excitement.
The event started at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday and ended at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday. At approximately 30 booths, delicious food from around the world, particularly Anatolian cuisine, live cultural performances, and a variety of art products were offered. For the first time this year, familiar names such as Costco and Canadian Blood Services were also among the vendors. The Calgary Fire Department also brought a fire truck for the children. There was also a bouncy castle for children.
The Honourable Michelle Rempel Garner, Member of Parliament for Calgary Nose Hill; the Honourable Muhammad Yaseen, Associate Minister of Multiculturalism; MLA Lizette Tejada, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Multiculturalism; Calgary Interfaith Council Executive Director Sarah Arthurs; and Intercultural Dialogue Institute Lead Organier Ayşe Sezgin also attended the event and delivered speeches emphasizing the value of intercultural connection and inclusion in Alberta.
The stage also hosted a wide variety of incredible performances, and the program began with Malik Muradov’s Land Acknowledgement and an opening speech by BURC President Sedat Cavdar. Here are the performances:
• Opening & Closing Singing Performance by All Kids – Yeni Bir Dünya (A New World)
• Marakame Dancers – Mexican Dance Group
• Nataneal Sasaki, Violin Performance – European Classical Music Tradition
• St. Andrew Caledonia Society – Bagpipe Performances, Scottish Cultural Performance
• Azeri Calgary Stars – Azerbaijani Dance Group
• YOSAKOI Dance Team – Japanese Dance Group
• Silya Merhi, Solo Violin Performance – Lebanese Culture
• Silk Silhouette Dance Team – Vietnamese Dance Group
• Kyrgyz Association in Canada – Kyrgyz Dance Group
• La Escuelita Folclórica – Mexican Dance Group
• Youth Group Vkids Connect – Vietnamese Kids Dance Group
• Angus & Dolina – Scottish Cultural Dance Performance
• Tugrul Ozer – Ney, Sufi Instrument Performance
• Emir Enes Deniz – Turkish Pop-Rock Guitar Performance
• BURC Community Kids – Erik Dali Turkish Cultural Dance Performance
• BURC Community Kids – Horon Turkish Cultural Dance Performance
• MFÖ Tribute – Kids Group Karaoke
• BURC Community Kids – Edalı, Modalı Yar Turkish Cultural Dance Performance
• BURC Community Kids – Bizim Köyün Şarkısı Song Performance
• BURC Turkish Community Kids – Semmamme Kurdish Cultural Dance Performance
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