SFU StreetFest! returns, this time for two days

For the fifth year in a row, Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the UniverCity Community Association are kicking off the school year with the annual StreetFest! on Burnaby Mountain. According to Mark McLaughlin, chair of the StreetFest! organizing committee, this year’s event will be two days instead of the usual single-day event of past years. StreetFest! will take place on Burnaby Mountain on Fri. Sept. 15 from 11am to 7pm and Sat. Sept. 16 from 10am to 3pm.

While both days of the event will include activities for all ages, the second day will be more family-oriented with bouncy castles and climbing walls for children. Highlights of this year’s StreetFest! include food trucks, buskers, vendors, fire-eating performers, live music, Indigenous music and dancing, and SFU student performers. He added that SFU recently launched the Evolve e-bike share and it will be possible for visitors to “hop on an electric bike and zip around the mountain.”

The main purpose of StreetFest! is to bring members of the community together and foster connections. With more than 7000 residents currently living in UniverCity on Burnaby Mountain, McLaughlin says it’s crucial to create a sense of community. Event organizers hope StreetFest! will be an opportunity for new international and domestic students to meet people and make friends.

“Coming out of COVID, we’re hearing that people are really looking for community, they’re looking for social connections, they’re looking to have a sense of belonging. We’re very fortunate to be in a beautiful natural setting here on the mountain with phenomenal views of the Lower Mainland and Burrard Inlet, and this is an opportunity where we’re bringing together not only all that this mountain has to offer but we’re bringing together the various communities to celebrate and to connect together,” McLaughlin tells The Beacon.

Finally, if the forecast holds, StreetFest! attendees can expect clear skies and sunshine.

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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