Fort Qu'appelle Peace Group celebrates first birthday at Arts for Peace Festival

Judy Fretz — October 1984

FORT QU’APPELLE – Balloons, kites, ribbons, painted faces, music, cance, displays of arts and crafts, and games were all part of the Arts for Peace Festival held here from August 3rd to 5th.

Advertised as a “celebration of the fruits of life when there is peace,” the festival was in fact something of a first birthday party for the Fort Qu’ Appelle Peace Group.

The group began just a year ago when an invitation was extended to the 1500 citizens of this southern Saskatchewan community to join in a candlelight proces~ion, prayer and meditation on Hiroshima Day 1983.

A group of 25 to 30 active peace workers emerged from this event. These dedicated people have spent the last 12 months studying peace issues, marching for peace, sponsoring the musical revue Under the Gun, and participating in a door-to-door canvass for the Peace Petition Caravan Campaign.

The festival-birthday celebration opened Friday evening wi1h a wellattended Modern Dance Concert cosponsored by Dance Saskatchewan Incorporated. Throughout the weekend festival goers enjoyed reading, dancing, arts and crafts displays and other celebrations of peace and life.

The festival concluded on Sunday evening with an interfaith peace service at the Fort Qu’Appelle Catholic Church.

The Peace Calendar

Canadian Disarmament Information Service, 1983-1984

Fort Qu'appelle Peace Group celebrates first birthday at Arts for Peace Festival