The Saint John Newcomers Centre, official hosts of one of the largest multicultural festivals in Atlantic Canada, is evaluating a revised format aimed at minimizing conflict and maximizing joyful expression of the city’s growing diversity. That’s because global events — in particular, the crisis in Gaza — have challenged the festival’s core values of making everyone feel welcome, represented, and safe. That came into sharp focus last year, when Culturefest in the Valley, the companion event that visits the towns of Rothesay and Quispamsis, was cancelled two days before it was due to start in September 2024. “Out of safety concerns,” recalled Sochi Azuh, speaking for the Newcomers Centre. “That was painful because a lot of planning had gone into it.”When the 2025 festival returned to Saint John in August, police arrested one youth for an alleged assault and a man for possible obstruction after responding to calls about “Palestinian demonstrators” and an incident at the Israel table. Sochi Azuh, representing the Saint John Newcomers Centre, speaks to CBC News Sept. 20, while volunteers prepare to welcome guests to Culturefest in the Valley at the Quispamsis Arts and Culture Park. He said last year’s decision to cancel the event, amid a rising tide of disruption at culture festivals across Canada, was painful. (Aniekan Etuhube/CBC)Police told CBC News that multiple callers that day described protesters wearing red bags over their heads, and one person in a military uniform was said to be carrying a gun, later determined by police to be a water gun filled with red liquid. As of Oct. 15, according to police, the file had yet to go to the Crown prosecutor’s office for review to determine whether any charges will be approved. A pending court appearance on Tuesday for one individual hinged on whether that review would be completed in time, said police. WATCH | Confrontation sparks review of festival’s future format:Policy banning politics and religion fails to keep the peace at N.B. festivalA protest at this summer’s Culture Fest Saint John ended after police were called. Now, the festival’s organizers are considering changes to the event’s format to reduce the risk of confrontation next year. The CBC’s Rachel Cave reports. While the facts of the incident have yet to be tested in a court of law, the Atlantic Jewish Council was quick to call it an act of hate against Jewish people, while others who were there that day say the protesters were exercising their right to free speech. Organizers described it as a regrettable incident and one they hope to avoid in the future, by tweaking the festival’s format to further emphasize unity. Arts focus aims to promote common groundIn September, when the festival did return to the valley, the Newcomers Centre launched what it called an “innovative pilot program” to show how “artistic diversity binds us as a unified region.””The artistic corner is a new initiative we’re trying,” said Azuh, walking among several tables and pointing out their themes. Stations for hairstyling, beadwork, wreath-making, calligraphy and paper-folding encouraged visitors to observe and participate. The art of paper-folding was a featured theme at Culturefest in the Valley 2025. Other themes included hairstyling, beadwork and wreath-making. (Rachel Cave/CBC)Asked if this was a deliberate move away from assigning tables to particular countries, Azuh said, “I think it’s easy to see how that may look.” He added: “I believe it is also a way to put people more at ease without being confrontational or being confronted by issues that distract them from actually experiencing the cultures presented to them.”While the two-day city festival can draw thousands of people, the valley festival in September had a much smaller attendance. Performances on the main stage included Irish folk music, Syrian love poetry, and Sudanese songs. Hairstyling and wreath-making as expressions of art not linked to any one country are promoted at the Artistic Corner of the 2025 Culturefest in the Valley. (Rachel Cave/CBC )No single group dominated the occasion — except, perhaps, the police.Marked cars were parked on and around the site, and as many as a dozen uniformed officers were present, although police declined to release official staffing numbers.”What I can say is that, taking into consideration past events, we ensured a level of presence at Culturefest to maintain safety and provide reassurance,” said Mike Young, chief of the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force. Police vehicles and several officers attended the Culturefest in the Valley. Chief Mike Young of the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force said the police presence was to maintain safety and provide reassurance, taking into consideration past events. (Rachel Cave/CBC)Azuh says the festival’s code of conduct has always forbidden any overt political or religious expression. He says the code is enforced with the help of an independent advisory committee comprised of community leaders and partners from “different walks but deeply engaged in cultural understanding or appreciation in Saint John.” He declined to identify anyone by name. Ahmad Ibrahim, who started attending the festivals in 2017, says he has submitted to the screening and he accepts it. In a wide-ranging interview, Ibrahim described some of his past frustrations with the festival and its innumerable charms, including his discovery of Hungarian chimney cake. “I make a point to go back that same gentleman every year because it’s so good,” he said. “You get to meet people and experience things and see things that you would not have a chance to, otherwise.” Ibrahim said that this year, he sent in his proposal through Microsoft Dropbox and it came back with “red circles over what they don’t like” and text explaining why. “I had the map of Palestine and they said no maps,” he said. Ahmad Ibrahim says he submitted his ideas for a cultural table representing the Palestinian community. He said he was not allowed to show a map of Palestine or an image of the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem. He did not participate in any demonstrations. (Arab Cultural Association of Saint John/facebook)A picture of the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem was also rejected. “It’s a religious shrine so they asked me not to have it,” he said. The culture festival is not the right place for protests, Ibrahim said, but protests do have a place to send a message to people who need to hear it. “Just the other day I found a picture of my great uncle, my grandfather’s brother,” Ibrahim said. “He’s a doctor who works in a hospital in Gaza. He’s starving. He paid a bribe to get his family out, and he remained to keep helping people. He’s halfway to a skeleton.”Esti Barlevy (in sunglasses), a representative of the NB Israeli Community, says the woman in the hat was volunteering at the Israeli community table on Aug. 2 when she was punched in the face. The Atlantic Jewish Council is calling it a hate crime. (Mohamed Elazab/facebook)Israeli participants say they were excludedEsti Barlevy says she registered an Israeli community table this year, after being told she could not host a table in the name of the synagogue. “We weren’t allowed to present the Israeli map or any kind of city name,” she said. “I felt like it was a little too much but I guess if if that rule was applied to all of the groups, that was fine. “In 2024, Barlevy said her table was approached by pro-Palestinian protestors but police intervened and it didn’t escalate. This year, she said, she sent an email to festival organizers telling them she had concerns about the potential for another confrontation. “We knew there was going to be a rally,” Barlevy said.When the incident happened around 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 2, Barlevy said there were no police officers in sight. “We stood there,” she said. “We kind of let them do their thing, hoping they would finish and go away, but that didn’t happen because at some point, they started walking toward us and one of them starts spraying red water at us.”Barlevy said she and another woman tried to protect the material on their table, including items they had borrowed, but the protesters got closer and she felt cornered. She said the woman, who had been taking video on her phone, was punched in the face and her glasses were broken. The Atlantic Jewish Council is calling it a hate crime.”In this circumstance, the Israeli booth was targeted, the Israeli woman who was assaulted was targeted, and so it can be in my mind nothing but an anti-Semitic act,” council president Naomi Levine said in an interview with CBC News. Undeterred from wanting to participate in the KV festival, Barlevy said she tried to register but was told the Cultural Village segment had been cancelled. She said she was told that cultural groups that previously participated would not be included.”I think the purpose of a culture fest is to showcase cultures, and if the centre is not doing that, they’re missing the purpose,” said Barlevy. “Especially if the budget they have is taxpayers’ money.”Last summer, the federal government announced $61,000 in funding to support the festival in 2025 and its return to Saint John in 2026. The Newcomers Centre says it will take some time to consider how to present the event next year. “We’re still evaluating — meetings and surveys,” Azuh wrote in an email to CBC News. “We’re just putting out a survey now. It should pop up on social in a few days. I’ll let you know once we have a decision.”
Tensions over faraway turmoil hit close to home for N.B. festival seeking to avoid strife
