By
Azim Ahmed,
Salam Toronto
When
Mehrdad Ariannejad first arrived in Canada in 1997, he noticed that there were
few Iranian events, but the demand for them was high.
"I remember when I first came
and we had a simple talk (lecture), with no one famous speaking in particular,"
Ariannejad recalls. "However, it was packed with so many people because it was
one of the only Iranian events going on at the time."
But thanks to people like
Mehrdad, this is no longer the case. Today, there are a myriad of activities in
and around the Toronto area pertaining to Persian culture. Talks, music
concerts, live theatre, dance competitions, dinners, festivals; at times there
is enough going on that the typical Iranian-Canadian living in the Greater
Toronto Area can sometimes find that they have too many options.
Ariannejad, who is the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of the upcoming highly anticipated Tirgan festival (July
17th-July 20th), has been instrumental along with others
in ushering in this explosion of events.
As a Masters student in
Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto (U of T) upon his arrival in
Canada, he helped set up the Iranian Canadian Centre for Arts and Culture (ICCAC),
along with others, including Dr. Maria Sabaye Moghaddam, whom Salam Toronto also
spoke to recently. The ICCAC began organizing talks, lectures and small events
at the U of T campus. The success of these events gradually led to bigger
events, including the 'Colours of Iran festival'.
"It was a festival on a much
smaller scale," Ariannejad says. "We had performances, dance, music and some
exhibitions as well. 500-600 University students, teachers and staff attended
that event. It was very successful and we were very happy."
Ultimately this led to 2006's
successful 'Under the Azure Dome', the prequel to this year's Tirgan.
Ariannejad says, "To go from a
smaller University event to a much large event was scary because the most
expensive event that we had organized at U of T was something around $10,000.
And then we jumped to a $100,000 event, which was Under the Azure Dome. We all
expected 5,000-6,000 people to visit, but it turned out over 22,000 came out!"
"In some ways, we became a
victim of our own success, as people had poor sightlines for the performances
because it was so packed."
The
budget, for Tirgan, meanwhile, is expected to be over $650,000. While this is a
challenge, its CEO is not too concerned.
"We have worked really hard to
raise funds for this, but we are still short," Mehrdad says. "But we can manage
this, because even if we don't meet our target budget we can cut costs here and
there to make it work."
The festival organizers are
using a combination of Government grants, corporate sponsorships, fundraising
events and donations to help fund this large-scale event. The Haydary Hamilton
Law firm, for instance, donated an impressive $50,000 to the event. Harbourfront
Centre is also taking the bill for much of the English-language advertising,
while the Organizing committee is taking care of the advertising to the Iranian
community.
As for weather conditions, for
those events that are outdoors and uncovered, such as those scheduled for the
Toronto Star Stage, the organizers will be at Mother Nature's mercy.
"Although Harbourfront Centre
does have contingency plans in case it rains," Ariannejad explains. "They move
the performance to another venue. But let's hope it is a sunny day!"
According to the organizer,
there are 56 events in total, of which 52 are free. All four of the ticketed
events are covered, or indoors, Ariannejad says.
For Ariannejad, this festival
is a culmination of his and his team's efforts. Born in Tehran in 1964, he moved
to Canada over a decade ago after he did his Bachelor of Computer Engineering in
Iran. Upon completing his Masters degree here, he has been working for IBM
Canada ever since. But what has been his motivation in investing so much of his
time and energy into these events?
"One of our goals is to promote
our culture and heritage and share it with the rest of Canadians," he says.
This desire to share Iranian
culture with non-Iranians is a big part of the festival's mandate. In fact,
Ariannejad projects that of the 100,000 expected visitors to the four-day event,
40%-50% will be from outside of the Iranian community. This optimistic outlook
is attributed greatly to Harbourfront Centre's extensive marketing and
promotions. For instance, earlier on the very day he spoke to Salam Toronto,
Mehrad had done a scheduled live interview with Sun TV.
This catering to non
Persian-speaking people is reflected in some of the programming as well. While
there will be no subtitles or English translation of the Persian music or visual
arts, the storytelling, literature and discussion panels will all have a
combination of English and Persian used.
Thus, as the Tirgan Festival
nears, Southern Ontarians - Iranian or otherwise - can look forward to an
eventful four days of culture.
Four days of culture, art, and
enlightenment of any kind is indeed something to get excited about, and if the
organizers have their way, the audience will come away content and happy.
Tirgan
Iranian
Canadian Centre for Art and Culture
www.yekiboodyekinabood.ca
info@iccac.ca
56 Forest Park Crescent
Thornhill, Ontario
L3T-2M7
... Payvand News - 07/07/08 ... --
