Telus Mosaic 2008

South Asian Heritage Festival in Toronto on June 18-20

TELUS MOSAIC 2008, South Asian Heritage Festival of Mississauga marks the city’s most poignant and interactive South Asian arts and culture festival and it is an honor to celebrate the festival’s third year running.

The team of MOSAIC 2008 presents with great pride the largest free outdoor multi disciplinary art festival of the South Asian community in the western GTA, presenting a variety of events that showcase the versatility in Indo-Canadian culture.

This year’s festival kicks off with an evening of laughter hosted by Mohit Rajhans (Bollywood Boulevard) and a line up of the most entertaining South Asian stand up and improv acts at the 7th Annual MyBindi Comedy Night at Empire Theatre Studio 10 Square One shopping mall. Please go to www.mybindi.com for more information and to purchase tickets. A film festival featuring works of Canadian film producers of South Asian origin will be hosted at the Noel Ryan Auditorium at Mississauga Central Library on June 18th, 19th and 20th between 6:00 and 9:00 pm. Admission to the festival is free.

More than 18,000 visitors from GTA and surrounding areas attended Mosaic 2007. It is a free festival inviting all communities to come and celebrate the South art, culture and cuisine in a mainstream and professional environment. The Civic Square is located at 300 City Centre Drive and free parking is available underground and in the adjacent Square One shopping mall.

MOSAIC 2008 officially opens the grounds to its three day event at the Civic Square on June 20th with a free showing of the Bollywood blockbuster, Bunty aur Babli at 9:00 pm in the South Civic Square. And the main stage remains lit thereafter as a host to 32 international and local performances in music and dance featuring more than 140 perfomers June 21st to June 22nd, including international world music sensation Oliver Rajamani who will perform for the first time in Canada and for the first time in Mississauga, the breathtaking aerial silk acrobats performing to the tunes of South Asian music.

A large number of South Asians come from Barbados, South Africa, Kenya, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Uganda constituting the largest visible minority in Mississauga. MOSAIC is proud to celebrate additions to our family of ‘newly Canadian’ South Asians at the Proudly Canadian ceremony that will honor new immigrants with Canadian citizenships on Saturday June 21 at 11:30 am on the main stage.

As a special highlight, the visual arts section will feature a Mississauga bus decorated and painted by 3 well-known professional artists originating from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, in addition to the V.I.R.S.A visual arts display of typical South Asian truck art photographs.

Now in its third year, 24 rock bands will Rock the Coliseum for a three day FREE music festival in the heart of Mississauga!

This year’s festival is going to be a big one! With more music, more dance, more art you cannot afford to miss it. For highlights from previous years and for more information on MOSAIC 2008 please visit: http://www.mosaic2008.com

This year’s festival is being presented by TELUS and sponsored by RBC royal Bank.

Media Release, June 07, 2008