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2021 FESTIVAL - THAT’S A WRAP

Thank you everyone for helping to make the recent 2021 Festival such a success! With the theme of “Stories We Need to Hear’, the 2021 Festival featured over 1,000 Downtown Eastside-involved artists and 80 community partners at over 130 events and 60 locations throughout the Downtown Eastside. Thank you to all the staff, artists and community partners. Together we did it!

We are now hard at work on the 2022 Festival (26 October - 6 November 2022), the theme of which is ‘Community Is Our Mentor.’  Stay tuned for further details.

WE ARE HIRING!

Vancouver Moving Theatre is hiring a new Associate Producer for the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival. If you are dedicated to the Downtown Eastside and have experience as an artist/producer, we would be very interested in talking with you. 

The details about the position and the application information are available HERE


Explore the 2021 Festival

18th Annual Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival
Wednesday October 27 to Sunday November 7, 2021

Welcome to the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival! This year’s festival theme, Stories We Need to Hear, resonates today as our community grapples with the dramatic impact of the pandemic, ongoing displacement, the fentanyl crisis, and the reality of bigotry and systemic racism. In the words of late DTES poet Sandy Cameron, “When we tell our stories we draw our own maps, and question the maps of the powerful. Each of us has something to tell, something to teach.” We take strength from the compelling lived wisdom and creativity of Downtown Eastside-involved artists and residents who illuminate the community’s vitality, relevance and resilience and its diverse and rich traditions, knowledge systems, ancestral languages, cultural roots and stories.

The 2021 Festival features twelve days of live and online events, including music, stories, poetry, theatre, ceremony, films, readings, forums, workshops, discussions, art talks, history talks, and visual art exhibitions; including the Art in the Streets program with surprise pop-up music and spoken word activities on sidewalks and small plazas throughout the historic district.

Top Festival Picks

SUPPORT THE FESTIVAL – DONATE TODAY!

Most of the events at the Heart of the City Festival are free. If you support the Festival and enjoy the programming, please consider donating to support our work. Any donations are very much needed, welcomed and appreciated. Donations can be made through Canada Helps or through Eventbrite when registering for an event.

HATS OFF TO OUR FUNDING AND IN-KIND PARTNERS AND SPONSORS!

The Heart of the City Festival gratefully acknowledges the financial and in-kind support of our Festival partners and sponsors.