PHOTOS: Salmon Arm multicultural festival a feast for the eyes, ears and stomach
Published 11:30 am Monday, June 29, 2026
Canada’s cultural mosaic was front and centre at Salmon Arm’s Ross Street Plaza Saturday for the Gathering Together Festival.
Hosted by the Shuswap Immigrant Services Society, the very well-attended annual Canadian Multiculturalism Day (June 27) event offered a feast for the eyes, ears and stomach with multiple musical and dance performances, activities and an international menu of sweet and savoury foods to try served by participating groups at the numerous booths set up in the Ross Street parking lot.
MC’d by Downtown Salmon Arm’s Althea Mongerson, the event began with opening remarks from Neskonlith Knowledge Sharer Louis Thomas, Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies MP Mel Arnold, Salmon Arm-Shuswap MLA David Williams and Salmon Arm Mayor Alan Harrison.
“I got to visit some of the booths out there – make sure as part of your day you get to go by and talk to each of the people at the booths,” said Harrison. “I talked to the folks from Columbia, the folks from Nepal, the folks from India.
“The way that we can understand each other is to learn about the other people and to share, that’s what we need to do, we need to educate ourselves. And once we do that, we start to realize, jeez, we have a lot in common here. There’s a lot of positive things that everybody brings.”
Shuswap Immigrant Services Society president Patrick Earley also shared a few words, including thanks all in attendance, and reasons why people choose to make Salmon Arm their home.
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“On a beautiful day like this, it’s obvious why people come to this place… the abundance, the beauty of the land, the fish, the forests, the mountains, the water… but it’s also the friendliness and welcoming nature of the people, our fine businesses, our restaurants, our vibrant volunteer groups, our cultural events… and all these wonderful things we have here… But it takes work to maintain a vibrant community. You need to keep refreshing a community. You need to bring in new skills, you need to bring in youth, you need to bring in energy. People need to start new families, start new business endeavours to keep the city and the region thriving… It’s more important than ever that we appreciate the foundations that the people who came before us built, and the new foundations that are being built every day.”
