Everything Scottish celebrated at Multicultural Centre
By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on January 24, 2024.
A Scottish flavour was in the air during the second annual Celebrating Everything Scottish night at the Multicultural Centre on Saturday night.The evening began with the Address to the Haggis by George Fowler, while people could enjoy Scottish music by the Celtic Routes, bagpipes from Alec Chisholm, a traditional Scottish meal of haggis and neeps (mashed rutabagas) and tatties (mashed potatoes), performances from Lethbridge Highland Dance Association and taste some Scottish drinks.
“I get together with our member groups and we plan monthly taste of events,” said Jackie Stambene, Southern Alberta Ethnic Association’s event and membership coordinator.
“This is our first one for the year, which is Celebrating Everything Scottish that we planned with the Lethbridge Highland Dance Association and the band Celtic Routes. “Typically, these events have a meal that’s traditional to that culture, there’s some entertainment, there are displays from the culture. So basically the event is building cultural bridges, making people in the community aware of some of the information. They’re learning some new things about the community that they live in but also connecting with new people.”
The event coordinated as close as possible to Robbie Burns Night on Jan. 25.
“I think that the group tries to make it as authentic as possible towards that,” said Stambene, on making it similar to Robbie Burns Night.
Stambene said there are a lot of Scottish people in Lethbridge.
“There’s a lot of Scottish people here tonight that are celebrating and getting in on the activities and want to support it,” she said.
SAEA’s mandate is about culture, diversity and inclusion.
“We’re trying to promote as many cultures as we can, show the diversity in all those cultures and include everybody in the community,” she said.
All 152 tickets were sold for the event.
The event had a silent auction and tables of displays for Celtic roots and the Highland dancing. 2
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