Dartmouth doubles down on cultural celebrations at Alderney Landing
The 16th annual Nova Multifest and the 13th Caribbean Diaspora Multicultural Celebration drew people from across the Maritimes and around the world to the Dartmouth waterfront last weekend for food, music, and stories from home.
The two festivals ran side by side but were organized separately, said Shaniel Smith, a member of the Jamaican Cultural Association of Nova Scotia (JCANS).
Multifest began Friday at Alderney Landing and wrapped Sunday evening. Vendors and cultural exhibits assembled in the plaza lot while artists performed on the outdoor stage. Activities included pottery and cooking on Sunday, alongside bouncy castles and even a video game trailer for children.
The Caribbean diaspora celebration took place Sunday at Ferry Terminal Park and brought more historic and cultural exhibits to pair with their festive fusion of art, culture, and food.
“The timing has shifted a bit because we wanted to lean more into that multicultural framing," said Smith. On Sunday the festival celebrated both Jamaican independence and the Caribbean diaspora, in addition to independence more broadly. The event included a domino tournament, games, and a fashion show.
Vendors, first-time visitors, and longtime attendees agreed the festivals are important to the community, the performers were amazing, and the international food was in fact, out of this world.
The Post spoke with a number of people at both festivals. The interviews below have been condensed and edited for clarity.
Fiona Zhang, craft vendor
What she was doing: selling handmade crochet and jewellery, including pieces she curated for the festival.
Fiona says: “It’s a very rare chance to see different cultures and chat with people about them. It’s unique, it’s interesting. This is only my second year, but I really enjoyed it last year. It’s a special chance to bring something different into my day-to-day and just come enjoy the experience.
My favourite part is meeting everyone, chatting with people and telling them about my own culture. That’s the best part. We don’t get a lot of big events in Dartmouth that are focused on multiculturalism. My background was in ESL teaching, so I worked with a lot of diverse communities. It’s really nice to see an event that focuses on that."
Juan Manuel, sales
What he was doing: enjoying the food and taking in the crowd.
Juan says: “It’s really about the cultural exchange — you get to see different cultures, the food, the languages, all of it. It’s interesting, especially as an international person myself.
It definitely helps bring the community together. Through that kind of exchange, you get to know different cultures, different people, and get along with each other. Because we’re all different, and it helps you understand what works and what doesn’t. It helps us understand and respect each other. It helps our city.”
Ferdina Anika, co-owner of Bengal Beaver restaurant
What she was doing: representing her family’s restaurant, which she said is currently the only Bangladeshi restaurant in Nova Scotia.
Ferdina says: “Bangladeshi food is full of flavour — spicy, but balanced. My personal favourite is our chicken roll. It’s common, but the way we make it, it’s full of flavour without being too spicy. I always recommend it to people trying Bangladeshi food for the first time. It’s a burst of flavour. Refreshing, not overwhelming.
Multifest is our first international event as a Bengali business, and it’s the best way to get proper exposure to the Nova Scotian community. We want to introduce our culture to people here, and this felt like the place to start.
It’s not just about culture. It’s about support. We’re new here, we’re building our community, and we need people to be loyal, to support local vendors. Any event like this isn’t just showcasing the Bangladeshi or Indian community. You’re supporting the whole Nova Scotian community.”
Shem Arora and Jashendeep Singh, truck drivers
What they were doing: trying the Indian food at the festival.
Jashendeep says: “This is my first time out here, so I’m just enjoying it — the sun, and now the different foods.”
Shem says: “We’re just excited to eat the Indian food, all of it. Taste of home, you know.”
Jashendeep says: “India is home for both of us. That’s pretty important. People get to know other people’s culture, other foods, and we get to know theirs. We can explore that together.”
Corissa Waite, nurse, and Marlon Waite, carpenter
What they were doing: visiting from North Sydney, N.S.
Corissa says: “I really like the Caribbean fest and just seeing everybody out here, the community.”
Marlon says: “It’s about bringing people together. Different cultures coming together to celebrate.”
Abraihar Arzola, pop-up food vendor, HFX
What he was doing: serving traditional southern Mexican food.
Abraihar says: “This is a recipe from the south of Mexico, where we were born — actually a sister city of Halifax, if you look it up.
Traditionally, it’s made in a hole in the ground. You dig it, build a fire, and once it’s roaring hot you throw in rocks to get them really hot. Then you put down leaves from a tree that doesn’t grow here, wrap the meat, add another layer of leaves for insulation, cover it back up with the ground, and let it cook overnight. We can’t do that exactly here, so we try to get as close to that flavour as we can with what we’re able to source.
Multifest turned out better than we expected. There are so many people, and the best part is that people come from all over the world to try food they’ve never had. We had a line yesterday, and a lot of those same people came back today. There was a woman from Iran who tried it and came back again this morning. That made our day.
I think something like this is fundamental for a place like this. There’s so much you’d never get to try otherwise, and this gives you a taste of everything. We come from Mexico, but we’d love to go try some kebab too, or something else. It’s an opportunity to get to know the rest of the world and share something. That’s a big part of living. It’s part of what we try to represent as Mexicans. We do things like Day of the Dead, which are a celebration of life, and food reflects that. We try to make that feeling last a little longer.”
Shaniel Smith, member, Jamaican Cultural Association of Nova Scotia (JCANS)
What she was doing: volunteering with JCANS.
Shaniel says: “JCANS is an organization that’s there to help educate people and carry forward the history tied to Caribbean and Jamaican culture. We have a mandate to put on different activities to support education and to give back to the entertainment landscape of the Halifax and Nova Scotia community. We also do a lot of fundraising toward that same kind of education. It really started from our president, Olive Phillips, who’s been an educator for over 40 years. She’s done a lot of work in STEM and technology education.
We’ve grown the event the way we have because we want every immigrant here to see themselves in it. My favourite part is just people coming together, embracing each other’s culture — our food, our history. I find a lot of people really respect that and are keen to learn and that’s part of why they keep coming back.
We need to stay connected to our history, because if we don’t, we lose ourselves. So this is a reminder to come together, share stories, sing, dance, eat. I think it’s important that we have that.”