Issue link: http://tourismwpg.uberflip.com/i/994031
72 72 j. Encouraging Community Bonding, Participation, and Celebration Winnipeg has numerous festivals and events all year round that encourage community bonding. In a more formal sense, the City shows its support in ways such as providing welcome letters in festival programs and by sending elected representatives to participate in and/or attend ribbon cutting or other related ceremonies for local events. One of the best of examples of the community coming together, in keeping with Winnipeg's "cultural cradle of Canada" image is Culture Days, which celebrated its 8th edition in 2017. The goal of Culture Days — which is a national event, with activities happening during the same weekend in numerous other cities and towns across Canada — is to make art accessible to anyone, regardless of age, location or experience and to encourage participation in art by providing hands-on and interactive activities for the public to experience. For the fifth year in a row, Winnipeg topped the list of cities that had the most activities available in Canada during Culture Days. Winnipeg has taken the overall top spot, as well as first place in the 500,000-and-over population category, since 2013. Winnipeg is made up of many character neighbourhoods and many have their own community-oriented festivals and events where neighbors gather and welcome visitors to explore their unique areas. Examples include: » Charleswood in Motion Days » Assiniboia Buffalo BBQ » Transcona Hi Neighbour Festival » Sherbrook Street Festival » Manyfest » Osborne Village Street Festival & Canada Day Celebration (the city's largest and longest-running street festival) » Academy Road Street Fair Other leading examples of festivals centred around community gatherings include Pride Winnipeg, whose target is the LGBTTQ community, and Folklorama, which celebrates the city's diverse multicultural groups. Festival-goers are encouraged to celebrate and experience the world's cultures with world-class entertainment, authentic food and beautiful cultural displays at 40-plus pavilions over two weeks. Mike Peters Black and Gold Photography