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Location: Wilfrid Laurier University Brantford Campus, One Market Building
Date and Time: Friday, Sept. 27, 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Join us for MarketFest, a celebration of contemporary Indigenous artists, artisans, performers, thinkers and makers, Sept. 27 and 28 in the One Market building on Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus.
MarketFest kicks off a year of celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of Laurier’s campus in the heart of Brantford.
Open to Laurier students, alumni, faculty and staff, as well as the public, this free event will transform One Market's atrium into an Indigenous vendor marketplace curated by Indigenous artist and Laurier alumna Alanah Jewell of Morningstar Designs. Guests will also be invited to attend public lectures on subjects ranging from local history to Indigenization at Laurier and take in live music by contemporary and traditional Indigenous performers.
Friday, Sept. 27
3:00 p.m. Market opens
3:30 p.m. Opening ceremony
5:30 p.m. Educational session: Darren Thomas, “Indigenization at Laurier”
6:00 p.m. Live performance: Little Creek Singers
7:30 p.m. Market closes
Saturday, Sept. 28
10:00 a.m. Market opens
11:00 a.m. Educational session: Darren Thomas, “Indigenization at Laurier”
11:45 a.m. Live performance: Six Nations Women Singers
12:15 p.m. Live performance: Lacey Hill
1:00 p.m. Educational session: Paul Racher, "Brantford: The First 2,500 Years"
2:00 p.m. Educational session: Phil Monture, "Market Square History"
2:45 p.m. Live performance: James Wilson
3:00 p.m. Market closes
The fully accessible event will be documented in a Peace and Friendship podcast, to be produced by Laurier students and the university's podcaster in residence, in partnership with Laurier Library. The raw audio of the podcast will be preserved by the library as an oral history resource.
Parking can be found in several private and public parking lots near One Market, including the Market Centre Parkade (59 Icomm Dr.), which will offer free parking on Saturday, Sept. 28. Visit the City of Brantford website for more information about municipal lots and street parking.
MarketFest is funded by the Samuel W. Stedman Foundation, Laurier Brantford Grants and the Wilfrid Laurier University Student Life Levy.
Hosting MarketFest in One Market is a step toward fulfilling Laurier’s commitment to restoring mutual benefit in this space for Indigenous people and settlers.
The site had a longstanding history among local Indigenous communities as a market and trading post. An official decree stated that the site should remain a free and open market for all to use, allowing the Six Nations and their settler neighbours in Brantford to mutually benefit from this site of commerce. Over time, the decree was ignored: market fees were imposed, and Indigenous vendors were no longer welcome. By the 1980s the land was expropriated, the farmers’ market was moved, and a shopping mall was built in its place. The Eaton Market Square Mall, like so many others in downtowns across the country, failed to thrive.
Laurier purchased One Market from the City of Brantford in 2014 and is incrementally transforming it into vibrant spaces that support continued growth at Laurier Brantford, attract community members to the heart of the city, and create a hub for student and community activity.
Laurier is mindful of the complex history of this land and is working towards restoring mutual benefit as part of its commitment to reconciliation and Indigeneity. MarketFest, held on the Friday and Saturday before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, is an expression of that commitment.
For more information on MarketFest, email Wilfrid Laurier University’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives at indigenous@wlu.ca.
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