Motif, the multicultural festival run by the Moose Jaw Multicultural Council, received extra funding from the federal government on Thursday.
Ray Boughen, MP for Palliser presented $10,000 to Leon Shull, board member for Motif, and Russ McKnight, chairman for Motif.
Boughen said the grant is part of the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage Fund which falls under the umbrella of Canadian Heritage and is specifically designed for heritage, cultural and musical events that bring Canada to the forefront.
"It's the kind of program that the government has put in place to encourage the development of cultural and musical activities and also activities that give people a chance to learn about other cultures," said Boughen.
Boughen said Motif allows people to see the different cultures in action through food, dance and song and the festival has all the earmarks that the government likes to see in place to receive funds.
"Canada is a mosaic, while the Yanks have a melting pot. Canada allows each culture to retain it's own identity," said Boughen.
This is the first time the festival has received money from the program.
Tara Blanchard, executive director of the Moose Jaw Multicultural Council, said the festival used to receive grants from the Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange Society but it stopped operations last year.
"Finding sustainable funds for festivals is extremely difficult. We decided (this year) to pursue the Canadian Heritage grant and hopefully this will become another source of funding for us," said Blanchard.
Blanchard said this year marks the 35th anniversary of the festival and organizers hope to have a successful festival this year by boosting the entertainment.
McKnight said the funding enables the festival to bring in some new performers and do more in the way of entertainment.
The festival so far has arranged 11 booths and performers ranging from Chinese dragon dancers to a Caribbean steel band.
"We have a Peruvian group coming in from Calgary, the local Liberian community has a booth and the favourites are back like the Ukrainian, the Philippines, the Caribbean, and Jamaican booths," said Blanchard.
Motif will be held over the weekend of July 10-12 at Happy Valley Park.
Colin Dewar can be reached at 691-1263
