Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my congratulations to the artists, organizers, sponsors and participants of the 11th annual Junction Arts Festival.
The Junction Arts Festival is one of Toronto's many array of community arts festivals. Its incredible growth is testament to the tremendous neighbourhood team spirit in the Junction and the great organizational work of Karen Cecy-Lemieux, the festival coordinator and Piera Pugliese, the chair of the festival and the chair of the Junction Gardens BIA.
This year's festival attracted 31 juried artists from as far away as Lithuania and Thailand, and involved 27 participating local businesses. The first festival in 1982 consisted of a single wall in a local framing shop and attracted about 2,000 people. Now with the festival dominating the neighbourhood, over 20,000 visitors enjoy the art, musical performances, literary readings, music and writing workshops, and the popular “poems on a post”.
I wish to commend the Junction community for hosting and supporting this event, and understanding how important the arts are in our community.