This year’s festival of Nusardil, a traditional Assyrian event which has its roots in agriculture and religion and features water as a key element, takes place July 23 at T.B McQuesten Park - file photo by Gord Bowes
ishtartv.com - hamiltonnews.com
By Gord
Bowes, Jul 03, 2017
Stories
of Assyrian immigrants will be on display at 2017 festival of Nusardil
The
stories of Hamilton’s Assyrian community will be on display during this year’s
festival of Nusardil.
They
will adorn a replica of the Ishtar Gate, part of the Walls of Babylon and part
of the original Seven Wonders of the World.
It
won’t be the size of the original — which stands 14 metres high and 30 metres
wide — but the archway will be big enough to walk through, says Thomas Rayes,
one of the interns at the Bet Nahrian Assyrian Heritage Centre who is helping
to organize this year’s festival.
“We’re
going to have 150 stories of Assyrians and why they came to Canada, what they
like about Canada and how they came to Canada,” says Rayes.
The
Assyrian festival of Nusardil will take place at T.B McQuesten Park on July 23
from noon until 7 p.m.
Nusardil
is an ancient Assyrian festival that dates back thousands of years and has its
roots in agriculture and religion. Water is a key element as the Assyrian kings
would traditionally sprinkle holy water on people and crops during the hot
summer months as a blessing.
The
tradition was later adopted by the ancient Assyrian Christian church and is
representative of baptismal rites.
This
year’s festival will feature new this year live music, traditional dancing,
games, vendors and community displays.
It
will also feature Hamilton’s biggest balloon fight around 3 p.m.
T.B.
McQuesten Park is located on Upper Wentworth Street near the Lincoln Alexander
Parkway.
See betnahrainahc.com.
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