HAMILTON PAGAN HARVEST FESTIVAL - Sept. 2009

 

With that in mind, it’s ironic that time has whipped by so quickly and that this year Hamilton’s Pagan[1] Pride Day (HPPD), also known as Hamilton’s Pagan Harvest Festival, is celebrating its 7^th anniversary!

 

Every year, our committee works tirelessly to put everything together, register the vendors, book the workshops, schedule the music, and, every year, it is a resounding success! We have had guest speakers travel great distances to join us, such as Selena Fox and Gus DiZerega from the United States, Sian Reid and Shelley Rabinovitch from Ottawa, Arin Murphy-Hiscock from Quebec and many others from across Ontario. In addition, we have had amazing attendance over the years with our numbers reaching around 800 people at each event.  They come from all over Ontario, sometimes further, and some people have even ventured up from the U.S. just to attend for the day.

 

HPPD is one of many similar events around the world and is meant to promote tolerance, offer correct information about Paganism to the public, and bring our community together. Our committee has created and molded it to be an event where those new to Paganism can feel comfortable asking questions, where the public can feel welcome walking the grounds and can see for themselves what we are and what we are not, and where a Pagan can feel at ease bring their family members along with them to celebrate the day. 

 

The Pagan Pride movement began in the United States in 1998 and has since established itself as a non-profit organization (within the U.S.) called the Pagan Pride Project whose primary purpose is the advancement of religion and elimination of prejudice and discrimination based on religious beliefs. As a result of this organization, there are Pagan Pride Day festivals held in numerous countries every year. (See www.paganpride.org)

 

Our festival takes place every autumn. It is a time of thanksgiving and celebrates the harvest time of year. Every year, to honour that idea, we run a food drive for a local food bank (as does every other PPD around the world) and we also donate proceeds to a local charity. It is our way of giving back to our community. This year, we are donating food, clothing and monetary proceeds to Hamilton Food Share, who will in turn distribute it around Hamilton to those in need. In past years, we have supported various other local food banks, such as Neighbour to Neighbour, as well as charities such as Habitat for Humanity and McMaster Children’s Hospital.

 

As mentioned, this year is shaping up to be an awesome celebration! As of the printing of this article, we have 22 workshops booked that will take place throughout the day, 50 vendors registered who will be selling all types of exquisite wares, a number of musicians signed up to perform, including Heather Dale, Shibaten Spirits, Thoth Ganesh, Nordic Troll and Frank Parsons, as well as a few ceremonies that will celebrate both Pagan Pride and the Harvest time of year.

 

This year’s festival is taking place on September 12^th in Gage Park in Hamilton, Ontario from 10am to 6pm. For more information, please feel free to check our website at www.ppdhamilton.org. We are also available on Facebook groups. We hope to see you there!

---