On August 6 of every year, communities around the world pause to commemorate the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Powell River will be no exception by once again hosting a peace ceremony at Willingdon Beach where locals will gather to share hope for a peaceful future while remembering those affected by the nuclear attacks that forever changed Japan and the world.
The event has taken place in Powell River since 2002. After former organizer Sylvia Keet Peebles recently retired to Vancouver Island, the event has been taken over by a new team including Eva van Loon of International Peace Poem Walkers’ Association (IPPWA).
“This year she asked us in IPPWA to take it on because we’ve been holding a youth peace poem competition for five years,” said van Loon. “The International Peace Poem [competition] is a project that started in Hawaii where I used to live with my daughter. When we came over here, with their blessing we [brought it] with us and duplicated and improved it. Citizens Peace Panel saw that as a really good initiative and an appropriate one to take on the lantern ceremony.”
Starting in the early evening just after 6 pm there will be an open mic, peace songs, artists and activities at Willingdon Beach. Mayor Dave Formosa will make a proclamation for peace and winners of this year’s peace poem competition will be in attendance to recite their compositions. Other poets young and old will be reading and creating poetry on site as well. Throughout the day, attendees will be encouraged to make paper bag lanterns which at dusk will be ceremoniously sent out to sea.
For more information on this year’s lantern ceremony or on IPPWA, interested readers may contact van Loon at 604.483.4940 or [email protected].
