Centre for Tamil Heritage and Culture partnering with the City of Markham and many community organizations will be celebrating the 8th Annual Markham Thai Pongal Vizha as a two day festival. On Saturday, January 12th and 13th 2019, Markham Civic Centre and Markham Theatre will be buzzing with Tamil activities, workshops, Tamil Heritage Exhibition, Tamil Education Forum, Cultural shows by children, youth and seniors, activities for children and more. All these events are open to public and people of all ethnicities are welcome participate at all of these events free of cost.
When it comes to recognizing diversity and creating an inclusive environment for people, Markham continues to lead. As we all know, Markham became the first municipality to officially proclaim Thai Pongal as Tamil heritage days in December 2011. From 2012 onwards Markham Thai Pongal Committee has been hosting Thai Pongal Vizha in a grand manner.
This year Centre for Tamil Heritage and Culture has made significant efforts in bringing various community organizations together and officially partnering with the City of Markham as to organize this festival as a community driven festival for not only Markham but all over GTA being the largest festival celebrated over 2 days to engage and empower over 300 youth, cultural art schools, seniors organizations and Tamil language schools.
Thai Pongal is Thanksgiving time for Tamils, it is a unique festival of thanking Nature – the sun, cattle and farmers. It has been a 2,000 year old Tradition of Tamils, to respect and pay gratitude to all that helps sustain life. The two days of festivities at Markham Thai Pongal Vizha serve as an opportunity to celebrate Tamil culture, traditions, history, literature and festivities, providing both younger generation Tamils and the mainstream community to learn about and preserve the rich heritage of Tamils. It is essential for Tamils to be educated about their Tamil heritage and for the richness of the history to be preserved and passed on to the future generations.
