Indigenous theatre space to be integrated within 2022 Fringe Festival

A teepee was raised at the Fringe Festival grounds on Thursday morning to kick off the Indigenous theatre space, pêhonân.

pêhonân is a Nêhiyawêwin phrase which means meeting place.

The festival first introduced the space in 2021, but in 2022 organizers say it will be fully integrated within the festival to showcase local Treaty 6 talent.

“Having the teepee here and just being integrated directly into the main fringe grounds, it’s a big step towards reconciliation and the ability to have ceremony, and have the festival hold space for Indigenous ceremony to take place,” said Josh Longuedoc, director of Indigenous strategic planning for the festival.

“A lot of our people create, write, because of ceremony, because of healing, because we want our people to keep having a presence in spaces maybe we haven’t existed before.”

The space will host a community smudging at 6 p.m. on both Fridays and Saturdays of the festival before back-to-back performances featuring Indigenous artists.