Drumming for world peace, celebrating multiculturalism in Chinatown
Posted May 19, 2024 6:32 pm.
Musicians from China, Mauritius, the Caribbean and more filled Chinatown with the sound of drumming Sunday afternoon.
It was part of the second Multicultural Drumming Festival at Sun-Yat-Sen Park. The theme of this year’s event was world peace.
The annual festival, which began last year, coincides with Asian Heritage Month.
“With many different cultures coming together, we build a firm, stronger community,” said founder Jimmy Chan.
“We have the Caribbean community, the Mauritius community, the Black community and many different communities, the Chinese community of course.”
Chan calls drumming a universal language that naturally brings people together.
“Drumming is the first language of humanity,” he explained. “So with that drumming heartbeat, that will get attention for people coming in.
“A lot of people have never been to Chinatown before surprisingly. This is a time for people to come to learn about our Chinese culture and also to learn about the natural culture and also connecting with other community cultures.”
Chinese drummer Xiao Doan Weng said he was “very glad” to take part in the event, which drew hundreds of artists, performers and community members to the park.
“I’m from Mauritius Island,” added Stephanie, the lead dancer of the group Ambiance des Iles. “We are here today to represent our country at the same time to unify with the other cultures.”
The performers all embraced the message of world peace that surrounded the festival.
“For us peace is everything and we know the context of the world right now. So we hope with this kind of event we can assemble different countries together,” added Cauls, the troupe leader with Groupe Miel – mostly made up of members from Martinique and Guadeloupe.
Added Stephanie: “The music brings all together. We have different backgrounds, but it’s one kind of music: the drum. So we are very happy to be here today to share that experience.”
Chan says his vision for next year’s festival is to “make it bigger than what it is today.”
