North American Festival
THAT GOOD MAY BECOME
a festival of initiative
August 10-16, 2023
A North-American Anthroposophical Conference in celebration of the centenary
of the founding of the General Anthroposophical Society
Location: The Interlake in Manitoba–One hour north of Winnipeg; Seven hours north of Minneapolis
Contributors from the Goetheanum: Dr. Constanza Kaliks and Dr. Peter Selg
At this important point in the biography of the General Anthroposophical Society, the Society in Canada is planning an important event for the summer of 2023. This celebration will take place at the centre of our continent in the Interlake region of Manitoba, an hour north of Winnipeg. This location will be accessible not only for members from across Canada but also for friends in the Midwest of the United States.
At the heart of this celebration is a question of what it means to take initiative in the broadest sense and to stride into the future consciously. Part of this process is to consider how the laying of the Foundation Stone in the hearts of members has been cultivated. How have we been able to realize the reality of the Christmas Conference as a Turning Point in Time? What are the imaginations that can be developed that will help guide anthroposophy into the future?
At this event we will be celebrating anthroposophical initiatives across the continent. We will explore how these initiatives, working in the wider culture, can become bridges from anthroposophy to spirit-inspired people and endeavours both regionally and across the land. The development of the arts and reaching out to young people are critical for this bridge-building process. They are the major building blocks for the event.
Meet Kim Hunter
A Key Organizer for the 2023 Manitoba Festival
by Susan Koppersmith
Kim lives on Salt Spring Island in BC. Prior to becoming a Waldorf kindergarten teacher, she worked in the entertainment industry–backstage (sound, lighting and stage/tour managing) organizing and booking tours for artists and at festivals around the globe. For 36 years, she has maintained her work in the field and continues to be in management at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival and a French cultural festival, Festival du Bois, which takes place in Maillardville, just outside of Vancouver.
A group of 12 members have been planning for this Festival over the past year with monthly Zoom calls. We are in the process of creating a website for the event and the schedule is emerging. People will be able register online. We have accommodation lined up. It is all very exciting! We hope to involve members from Visual Arts Section, the Agricultural Section, the Literary Arts Section and the Natural Science Section as well as others.
This September Kim will visit Monika Pudelko’s land in Manitoba where the Festival will take place; she will be there to work with Monika to sort out practical details. We feel in good hands with Kim’s past experience and expertise with organizing cultural events. When asked what excites her about the 2023 Festival, she says:
Everything about our gathering in Manitoba next summer excites me. This part of Canada marks the centre point of North America. This is a place of the widest skies and flattest lands: “Manitoba” likely comes from the Cree “Man-intowahpaow”, which means “the narrows of the Great Spirit”.
The idea of meeting together here, to honour the 100th Anniversary of the refounding of the Anthroposophical Society thrills me. To reflect on our history and turn our gaze to the future under the guidance of many experts in their fields, we will explore and experience a cultural enlivening that may act as a foundation stone in the centre of this continent, “that good may become”… for the next hundred years.
Stay tuned and look for details about this Festival in the coming months.
