For 20 years, a community-driven concert series in Niagara-on-the-Lake has sought to welcome and thank Caribbean farmworkers whose labour supports the town’s agricultural industry.
This year’s event will also mark a major milestone.
The 60th Anniversary Concert, set for Sunday, May 31, will celebrate the Caribbean employees who have come to NOTL through the seasonal agricultural workers program over the past six decades.
Niagara Workers Welcome, the organizers of this conceert, say the anniversary recognizes the important role Caribbean workers, particularly those from Jamaica, have played in helping local farms, wineries and the tourism sector thrive.
“When the first Jamaicans arrived 60 years ago they were not just providing labour, they brought hope for the future of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s agriculture, wineries and tourism,” said organizers in a media release.
The concert will feature the return of the Toronto Mass Choir, which performe at the last concert that was held, the 50th anniverary celebration in 2016.
More than 400 Caribbean farmworkers are expected to attend this year’s celebration. Organizers say they are working to raise the remaining $7,000 needed to cover the event’s anticipated budget of about $30 per worker.
The Niagara Workers Welcome concerts began in 2007 as a way to build stronger connections between local residents and offshore agricultural workers, who organizers said had often remained largely unseen within the community.
The idea for the concerts grew after organizers travelled to Jamaica in early 2007 and saw firsthand the sacrifices many workers make by leaving their families behind for six to eight months each year.
Some workers had been travelling to Canada for more than 35 years while still feeling like strangers in Niagara, organizers said.
The first welcome concert was held at Bethany Mennonite Church in partnership with the Caribbean Workers Outreach Project. Former lord mayor Gary Burroughs delivered an official greeting at the inaugural event.
Since then, the concerts have expanded significantly. In 2010, the event moved to Orchard Park Church, where nearly 600 workers and community members attended a concert featuring the Toronto Mass Choir and Canadian band Newworldson.
Organizers say the annual concerts have become a grassroots community effort focused on expressing gratitude and building friendships between residents and farmworkers.
They are also encouraging employers to help arrange transportation so workers can attend the event.
Due to limited seating, concert attendance is limited to farmworkers, their employers and Niagara Workers Welcome volunteers only, as well as sponsors of the event.
Donations to support the concert can be made by contacting organizers through email at niagaraworkerswelcome@gmail.com.
