Aboriginal Day Live & Celebration Unveils Celebration Village and Website

Media Releases

April 14, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba – Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) announced today plans for the Aboriginal Day Live & Celebration Cultural Stages and launched the event’s new website. The event is on Saturday, June 21, 2014, and is Canada’s largest celebration of National Aboriginal Day.

The free event takes place at The Forks in Winnipeg and kicks off at 11:00 a.m. with the Celebration Village and Cultural Stages animating the area. The Celebration Village welcomes all to The Forks with the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Cultural Stages, featuring rotating performances paired with select cultural areas throughout the day.

The First Nations Cultural Stage will feature the Eskasoni Mi’kmaq Dancers from Nova Scotia; hoop dancer Jackson Beardy III and singer/drummer Byron Beardy; and a special artist from the Winnipeg Folk Festival. It’s all about regalia, intricate beadwork, crafts, traditional stories and cuisine.

The Inuit Cultural Stage will feature Nikki Komaksiutiksak and daughters with their overwhelmingly popular Inuit throat singing. Experience the richness and beauty of Inuit culture through a sampling of Nunavut’s exquisite arts, crafts and traditions.

The Métis Cultural Stage will feature toe-tapping performances by the Norman Chief Memorial Dancers and the Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers. Experience the highly infectious energy of fantastic fiddles and joyous jigging that always command a smile.

More crowd-pleasing additions that debuted last year are back. The Aboriginal Day Competition Pow Wow – brought to you by Manito Ahbee Festival, welcomes all to experience the astonishing visual display and beauty of pow wow song and dance.

The Skateboard Park & Competition – brought to you by Rhythm 104.7 (formerly Streetz 104.7 FM) will take over one of North America’s top rated skateboard parks with the latest in skateboarding demonstrations. The skateboard park then flips to a competition open to all youth and special prizes will be awarded to participants with the most head turning tricks.

The new look of the website also includes an expansion of the Aboriginal Day Live & Celebration social media team. Whether it be on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr or Instagram (to name a few), all are invited to share pictures and posts via your computer or mobile device. You might even have your photo or tweet added to part of our live broadcast of Aboriginal Day Live.

For full details on Aboriginal Day Live & Celebration and the new website, visit aboriginaldaylive.ca

The Winnipeg entertainment lineup for the evening’s Aboriginal Day Live concert will be announced at a special press conference on May 8, 2014 at The Forks.

About APTN:
September 1, 2013, marked the 14-year anniversary of the launch of the first national Aboriginal television network in the world with programming by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples to share with all Canadians and viewers around the world. APTN is available in approximately 10 million Canadian households and commercial establishments with cable, direct-to-home satellite, telco-delivered and fixed wireless television service providers. The network launched its high definition channel, APTN HD, in the spring of 2008. APTN does not receive government funding for operations but generates revenue through subscriber fees, advertising sales and strategic partnerships. APTN broadcasts programming with 56% offered in English, 16% in French and 28% in Aboriginal languages. For program schedule or for more information, please contact APTN at (204) 947-9331 or toll-free at 1-888-278-8862, or visit the website at www.aptn.ca

NT5