Globalfest Tickets

It is a world of diverse cultures, where people of different skin colors coming from different cultural backgrounds live together. In this world of diversity, multicultural festivals can be a source to bring harmony and unity. Globalfest 2011 is an endeavor in the same direction, towards peace in today's turbulent world.

History of this festival dates back to the foundation of Calgary Fireworks Foundation Society in 1993. The foundation soon after its formation started looking for a safe place where fireworks exhibition could be held, keeping in view the risks involved in the display of pyrotechnics and the potential danger it possesses towards lives and property. The foundation considered many sites but all ended up having some discrepancy, until in 2001 when they came across 'EllistonPark' and the lake there. The place seemed ideal for the fireworks festival the foundation was planning.

This venue was also unique in being the second largest lake in Calgaryand was created in 1978 near a landfill site. The city of Calgary owns this land since 1960 and used it mostly for agricultural purposes for more than 10 years. Later, in 1994 the city management decided to convert this place into a tourist attraction, and EllistonPark was opened. Ever since, the park and its lake have been a popular tourist resort, and owing to increasing number of tourists coming to visit every year, the park has undergone quite much of expansion since its beginning, reclaiming land from the nearby landfill. The total area of the park now measures more than 410 hectares and it has become the city's largest park, second only to 'Nose Hill'.

At the same time when Calgary Fireworks Foundation was looking forward towards holding its festival at Elliston Park, another not-for-profit organization, International Avenue Arts and Culture Centre was also looking for a suitable site for a festival that would involve people from around the world coming from different cultures. Fortunately, the two organizations came to know about each other's plans and decided to join forces, and celebrate a festival that would reflect both partners' motives. The plans were presented to International Avenue Business Revitalization Zone at Calgary, and were approved. The first festival began in 2003, and received an encouraging response from the public. The number of people attending this first festival, including city residents as well as tourists crossed 100,000.

The 2003 GlobalFest featured a competition of fireworks among three countries, along with 10 cultural pavilions. The show was a huge success, and such a remarkable number of visitors encouraged the foundation to carry on in the later years. In the upcoming years, the GlobalFest had more and more countries participating in it, making it a unique collection of diverse cultural representatives at a single festival.

The show features musical and cultural pavilions, representation of ethnic foods from around the world and the International Fireworks Festival. Later on, the participants found this platform to be an effective means for promoting global harmony and humanitarian issues, so a GlobalFest Human Rights forum was founded. GlobalFest's OneWorld festival was also initiated, as a representation of this world as a peaceful neighborhood. The cultural pavilions for OneWorld festival were spread throughout the city prior to 2007, but were grouped together in Penbrooke Meadows Community Association land that year, later being shifted to the OneWorld Village at a previously protected area of Elliston Park. The village featured about 14 different cultural food kiosks last year, and is expected to expand even further in the upcoming event. Regions participating in this exhibition include Middle East, India, Francophone, Caribbean, Africa, Hispanic America, Mexico, Italy, Ukraine, Vietnam and Scotland. The recent expansion in this festival has also included a GlobalFest FilmFest, where movies from different cultures have been presented to bring different communities from around the globe close to each other.

The backbone of the whole festival is the International Fireworks Festival that takes place over Elliston Park. Each night one country presents its firework, or so called Pyromusical (for its synchronization with the accompanying music). Fireworks are generally launched from water, and the sight of it is so amazing that it cannot be described in words. Each year there is a winner country depending upon the best exhibition of Pyrotechnics.

The great fireworks exhibition, musical shows featuring diverse cultural backgrounds, and artists from across the globe make this event a multicolored bouquet. GlobalFest 2011 Tickets provide you with a unique opportunity to see this colorful world as one peaceful village!