A Russian pavilion won’t be at Surrey Fusion Festival for a second year in a row.
This news will be welcomed by two groups representing Ukrainian-Canadians upset that a Russian pavilion would be part of this year’s festival.
Last week and into Monday morning, Russia was listed among close to 50 pavilions on the website for the City of Surrey’s annual festival of multicultural music and food, planned at Holland Park on July 22-23.
But by 2 p.m. Monday, a listing for the Russian pavilion was pulled from the event website surreyfusionfestival.ca.
This move followed a letter to festival organizers (posted on ucadvocacygroup.org) Sunday from Ukrainian Canadian Advocacy Group and the League of Ukrainian Canadians, who said a Russian pavilion has no place at the festival.
“Given the current events, the representatives of the Russian Pavilion have decided not to participate in the festival this year,” Mary Rukavina, the city’s manager of special events and filming, wrote in an email to the Now-Leader on Monday afternoon.
“For the same reasons, the Russian Pavilion did not take part in last year’s Fusion Festival,” Rukavina added.
Sabrina Rani Furminger’s reaction was “heartbreak” when she first heard Russia would have a pavilion at the 2023 festival, details of which were announced June 6.
Now she’s relieved.
“Now displaced Ukrainians and Ukrainian-Canadians can enjoy Surrey Fusion Festival in peace,” said Furminger, director of development with Ukrainian Canadian Advocacy Group, created soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Furminger wasn’t so delighted Monday morning when the Russian pavilion was still listed on the Fusion website.
“It’s very painful especially because on their (festival) website they used a photo of the Kremlin, which is the centre of the Russian power, where this cruel war and invasion is being directed from,” Furminger said.
“It’s been a very devastating time for displaced Ukrainians, Ukrainian-Canadian immigrants,” she added. “To see the Russian pavilion included and to be represented by a photo of the Kremlin, of all places, it’s very painful, very triggering. It’s very odd and very concerning.”
• RELATED: Surrey Fusion Festival’s 2023 headliners are DJ Shub and Gurnam Bhullar at Holland Park.
Open letter to @CityofSurrey from two Ukrainian Canadian organizations regarding inclusion of Russian Pavilion at #SurreyFusionFestival. Please read, share, and send your own message to Surrey Festival organizers and title sponsor @Coast_Capital.https://t.co/ER00Zhe3P1
— Sabrina Rani Furminger 🇺🇦🇮🇳 (@sabrinarmf) June 12, 2023
The “open letter,” sent Sunday (June 11) to Fusion organizers and cc’d to presenting sponsor Coast Capital, notes the festival attracts tens of thousands of people to Holland Park.
“This year, that number will include Ukrainians who have been displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Ukrainian Canadians whose families have been directly impacted by the war,” the letter says.
“To celebrate Russian culture under the Russian flag while many of us volunteering in the Ukrainian pavilion or attending the festival are refugees, have lost family in Russia’s cruel war, or deal with death threats and gaslighting on a daily basis, is short-sighted at best, and cruel and re-traumatizing at worst.”
At this year’s festival, Furminger said she’s among those who’ll be in the Ukrainian pavilion.
“My plan during Surrey Fusion Festival is to be in the Ukrainian pavilion with my daughter, telling people all about the culture,” she said. “We run the pavilion there, and we won an award last year for Best Pavilion. It’s a wonderful festival to be at for those reasons.”
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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