Over nine years, the Burnaby Festival of Learning has brought the community together to learn from each other and enrich each other’s lives. Every year, one thing becomes clearer and clearer: community learning is powerful. Our deep interconnectedness with each other (and the planet) forms a strong foundation for vibrant community knowledge exchange. It was time for our festival name to reflect just how important that interconnectedness is. And so was born, Connect Fest.
Connect Fest remains a festival by the community, for the community.
Where folks in our community come forward to share their knowledge, voices, traditions, and truths, honouring the land we’re on as our “classroom”, honouring the places we’re from for the wisdom they’ve given us.
So, get ready to join us April 26–30, 2024 as we celebrate how stories bring communities together, along with new knowledge, cultural exchange, inspiration, food, art, music, and more.
Festival History
Inspired by an interactive, grassroots, community-based festival in Cork, Ireland, the idea for the first Burnaby Festival of Learning emerged in 2015. We felt like it would be good to bring SFU “down from the mountain” into the Burnaby community so that we could co-create a festival of learning together. In 2016, the first Burnaby Festival of Learning took place, featuring over 68 home-grown learning experiences.
What did we discover? That knowledge doesn’t just come from universities. It lives and has roots in community. Since 2016, the festival has pushed itself to feature and celebrate the power of community learning.
All events are free! Register for your events at connectfest.ca/events
Created in partnership between the City of Burnaby and Simon Fraser University.