Student festival spreads peace message
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PARIS -- The inaugural Peace Day event attracted more than 1,000 students from all over the region to the Paris fairgrounds.
"A lot of the kids coming this year are social justice groups," said organizer Stephen Jarnick, director of Peaceworks, a Waterloo non-profit organization. "So, they're the really keen students that are interested in social justice issues -- compassion, equity, inclusion, non-violent conflict resolution. Those are things that I think are important to them."
The event, held May 31, broke down the idea of peace into three levels: personal, local and global.
Speakers included Six Nations Elected Chief Coun. Ava Hill and London Mayor Matt Brown.
Entertainers wove messages of equality, feminism and non-violence into their sets.
Jarnick said he hopes that the students from Grades 6 to 12 who attended the free event will take what they learned to their schools and spread the ideas.
"We just want as many kids as possible to look at peace as a viable option as a lifestyle choice."
Thomas Laughton, drummer for Kitchener band, Safe as Houses, said the event was "very positive.
"I think it's good to have community events like this, whether it's peace day or other things, and just bring everyone together," he said.
When the band played O Canada, students were encouraged to think about standing up for Canadian values when singing the line: "We stand on guard for thee".
While the event was free to attend, schools were asked to cover the cost of buses.
Jarnick said he believes attendance will grow next year.
"There's no really upper limit to how big Peace Day can be," he said.
"We could move it to a farm, run everything off of generators and have 100,000 kids -- and we're serious about doing that.
"It might take a few years to get to that point but it's quite doable."
Hosting Peace Day on a farm would pay homage to the 1969 Woodstock music festival that inspired Jarnick.
Asked if he would consider holding the festival in Bethel, N.Y., where Woodstock was held, he laughed and teased that Woodstock, Ont., would be a better fit.
Jarnick said he believes Peace Day's values are part of Canadian culture.
"Our neighbours in the south don't necessarily have those same values," he said, adding that he wants to keep the festival Canadian because of these differences.
avialette@postmedia.com
@alexvialette
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