Folklorama allows them to shine brightly

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This article was published 28/12/2020 (2122 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For four Winnipeggers, the pandemic means they get to spend an additional year representing a festival they love.

Jan Reyes, Calvin Loi, Vivian Shen and Donovan Martin were selected as Folklorama’s ambassadors general for 2020. They were scheduled to spend the year travelling around the country promoting the two-week festival, which celebrates global culture through live entertainment at more than 40 pavilions.

In the first three months of the year, the group appeared at numerous events, including one in North Dakota. Then COVID-19 hit.

Since then, they have been making videos to promote Folklorama online. The four have agreed to stay on as ambassadors for 2021 — a Folklorama first.

Selected through a juried interview and public speaking competition, the ambassadors embody Folklorama’s mission of celebrating diversity and promoting cultural understanding.

Competing to become an ambassador general was a logical step for Shen, a first-generation Canadian who first volunteered at the Chinese Pavilion when she was in elementary school.

“Introducing new people to the spirit of the festival and getting to help grow our Folklorama family is what it’s all about for me,” the 17-year-old says.

Martin has a unique history with Folklorama: His parents met while volunteering at the festival in the mid-90s.

Martin, who has played the steelpan since he was eight, started performing at the Caribbean Pavillion when he was 12 years old.

Prior to being selected as an ambassador general, the 16-year-old volunteered as an ambassador for the Caribbean Pavilion. In that role, he spent time volunteering with children at Newcomers Employment and Education Development Services Inc.

Martin taught the children some Jamaican dances, and they taught him some of their traditional dances.

“The exchange of culture, and the learning that was able to occur as a result of that exchange, is an experience I’ll never forget,” Martin says.

Folklorama is a family affair for Reyes, who has been involved with the Pearl of the Orient Philippine Pavilion with his wife and two daughters for a number of years.

The 40-year-old is typically a behind-the-scenes volunteer, and it’s those volunteers he sees himself representing as an ambassador general.

“I was never a performer… I was one of the guys who helped out in the kitchen and the parking lot,” Reyes says. “I love to see that from pavilion to pavilion — the people that work (behind the scenes) and love what they do, year after year.”

Loi was immediately hooked on Folklorama when his father took him for the first time in 2009. He’s been to the festival every year since, and volunteered for the past seven years.

“I always say that thanks to Folklorama, I can travel the world in the span of an evening,” he says. “I don’t have to hop on a plane.”

The 2019 edition of the festival was the biggest in the event’s history, attracting more than 450,000 guest visits to 45 pavilions.

This year’s festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. It is tentatively scheduled to return in August 2021.

“Even though it’s been a very weird year, I’m thankful for the way the Folklorama team has adapted to it, and I’m thankful for the opportunity it’s given us,” Shen says.

Loi invites people to check out the festival when it returns.

“I really would like to encourage younger people to come out, volunteer and get involved, because you really get to meet great people when you volunteer,” he says. “You build lifelong friendships and it’s definitely a great experience.”

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com.