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Canada Day in pictures: Coquitlam celebrates after two-year hiatus

Residents celebrate Canada Day at Town Centre Park. photos Ayesha Ghaffar

The sun was shining bright as children and adults donned red and white and danced to live music at Town Centre Park on Canada Day.

As Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart took to the stage he reminded those in attendance to learn about the colonial history of Canada and Indigenous history.

“Canada Day today holds a different meaning to different communities. It’s a day to acknowledge, learn about pre-colonial and Indigenous history. Councillors have taken courses to understand better the history of the country,” Stewart said.

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Revelers sing along to the national anthem.

For most in attendance, it was an opportunity to socialize and have a picnic with their family and friends.

Children stood in line with family to get their faces and forearms painted

The event included face painting to a spray park area for kids. For adults there were artisans, live music, and a wide variety of food stalls including Ukrainian cuisine.

Other than music, an exhilarating performance by the Coquitlam fitness centre team got everyone dancing along to pop music hits.

Coquitlam fitness centre instructors perform to popular hits.

As the sun got softer, the music got loud courtesy of the performance by RainCity followed by Trilojay who set the mood for the evening as everyone impatiently waited for the fireworks.

Author

Ayesha (Eye-Sha) Ghaffar is a recent graduate from the UBC school of journalism and a new addition to the Constellation Media team. She moved to Canada two years ago from Karachi, Pakistan with a bachelor’s degree in Media Sciences (film/advertising/journalism).

She worked as a lifestyle journalist in Pakistan for nearly four years before she decided to pursue her passion for investigative journalism and meaningful storytelling.

Whether it’s social media, print, digital or audio storytelling, Ayesha has experience working with several mediums and continues to learn more about them.

She has published works internationally in Abu Dhabi World magazine, Wamda Capital Dubai and  Something Haute Pakistan. In Canada, her words can be found at Global News, CBC Unreserved and National Post.

As a PoC Ayesha hopes to continue amplifying Indigenous and underrepresented voices in Canada, whether that includes social justice, climate change or immigration; she does not limit herself.