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Multicultural festivals in Vancouver, Ridgefield highlight, celebrate diversity

By Scott Hewitt, Columbian staff writer
Published: September 6, 2019, 6:30am
11 Photos
The whole crowd got in on the dancing during the 2018 Fourth Plain Multicultural Festival in Evergreen Park, Vancouver.
The whole crowd got in on the dancing during the 2018 Fourth Plain Multicultural Festival in Evergreen Park, Vancouver. (The Columbian files) Photo Gallery

How much broadmindedness, tolerance and goodwill between people of diverse customs, backgrounds and colors can one politically purple county stand?

Quite a lot, apparently. Simultaneous multicultural festivals are headed this weekend for Vancouver’s busy Fourth Plain corridor, often touted as the city’s “international district,” and for downtown Ridgefield, a formerly small town that’s growing and diversifying quickly. Is it even right to call Ridgefield rural anymore?

Both multicultural festivals will feature live entertainment, food, family activities — and a friendly feeling that this world is always more colorful and more interesting than you could have realized, no matter where you look.

“Clark County hasn’t been considered a place that’s very diverse, historically,” said Erin Timmerman, a member of the Fourth Plain Forward board that’s planned the festival there. “I think it’s great that people are becoming more aware of the diversity that our community has.”

If You Go

What: Ridgefield Multicultural Festival.

When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 7.

Where: Overlook Park and downtown Ridgefield.

Cost: Free.

Find out more:ridgefieldwa.us/event/multicultural-festival/

What: Fourth Plain Multicultural Festival.

When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 7.

Where: Evergreen Park, 3500 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., Vancouver.

Cost: Free.

Find out more:fourthplainforward.org/multicultural-festival/

Ridgefield

Megan Dudley, mastermind of the Ridgefield event, said she used to go to that town’s popular First Saturday events and wonder where all the people of color were. “I wasn’t seeing the diversity of people I knew lived in Ridgefield,” she said. “How could we create something that would bring everybody downtown?”

As she planned last year’s Ridgefield Multicultural Festival, she said, she was “overwhelmed by support from the community and the mayor. Turnout was much better than I expected. I think a lot of people came from outside Ridgefield, too. The only negative feedback was that we didn’t have any Native representation.”

That oversight has been fixed, Dudley said. One whole section of this year’s festival, in and around Overlook Park, will be a Native village showcasing the Chinook Indian Nation and its history in the Ridgefield area. Chinook Indian Nation vice chairman Sam Robinson will be on hand to launch the proceedings with a musical blessing. Chinook carver and painter Greg A. Robinson will be making and selling art.

“He is a nationally recognized artist who spans the gamut — modern art to traditional carving pieces,” Dudley said. “We are excited that he will be joining us and that more people can learn about his work.”

The day’s schedule begins at 9 a.m. on Sept. 7 when the Multicultural Festival Vendor Village opens alongside the regular weekly farmers market. Vendors will serve Indian cuisine and other ethnic dishes as well as barbecue. From 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., performers will show off the music and dance of Japan, India, Ghana and indigenous (pre-Hispanic) Latin America.

You can also explore your roots at the library’s Family History Zone. Play the DISCover golf course in Davis Park and learn about different world cultures along the way.

The Old Liberty Theater is pitching in too, with some free and meaningful movies. There’s a 2 p.m. matinee screening of “Kirikou and the Sorceress,” an all-ages animated film based on a magical folk tale from West Africa; there’s also a 7 p.m. screening of “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World,” about Native rock and jazz musicians.

Fourth Plain

It’ll be just as busy at Evergreen Park in Vancouver, where the Fourth Plain Multicultural Festival will feature 40 vendors and nine different music and dance performances.

Get ready for traditional Irish music from Na Rósaí, Brazilian samba from Bloco Alegria, mariachi from Fort Vancouver Mariachi, dancing by the Ora Nui Tahitian Dance Troupe, Japanese drumming by Portland Taiko, Mexican folk dance from Vancouver Ballet Folklórico and Russian-Gypsy folk-punk by Chervona.

“A lot of the performers are people who live locally,” said Timmerman. “This is our community performing for our community.”

There will also be games, face painting, art activities, a celebration of the latest round of Fourth Plain murals, and a celebrity visit from noon to 2 p.m. by Napoleon the Alpaca.

Haven’t heard of Napoleon? He’s the good buddy and bunkmate of recently retired Rojo the Therapy Llama. They both hang out at Mountain Peaks Therapy Llamas and Alpacas of Woodland.

Parking is limited around Evergreen Park so folks are encouraged to walk, bike or take C-Tran, which has a bus rapid transit stop right next to the park. Satellite car parking will be available at nearby Meineke, Las Islas en Pochos and the Gate House lot at 3100 E. 18th St.

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