‘We are part of it’: Manitoba newcomers embrace new home with popular corn festival in Morden

At its core – or better yet, its kernel – Manitoba’s popular corn festival is all about that golden cob.

Thousands come from all over the province to Morden, an hour-and-a-half southwest of Winnipeg, for a celebration of everything corn.

This year, some 100,000 people came out to the small city for the three-day Morden Corn and Apple Festival.

Among them? Members of Manitoba’s Bangladesh community.

“This is the community from Bangladesh living in Pembina Valley, so we are celebrating the Corn and Apple Festival and delivering the free corn,” said SM Tuhin, a volunteer who greeted attendees with a big smile.

Many of the volunteers at the festival are new Canadians trying to settle in the community, looking for ways to make their new city feel like home. They have become some of the faces helping make the sweet festival a reality.

Tuhin came to Canada less than two years ago. He says around 40 families from Bangladesh live in the area, including some who have been in the country for around seven years already. They’ve all joined in the annual tradition of helping the community undertake what’s become Manitoba’s largest street festival.

“It always bring the people together, and where we get the opportunity to share the culture,” said Tuhin, whose wife also volunteers. “The community gets strength and as a result, we now have a bond. We get the supports from the people all over the city whenever we want, and we now think that we are part of it.”

And what better place enjoy new experiences than a spot known as the “City of Discovery?”

Humidity and heat did nothing to deter thousands of people from lining up for free corn at the festival. But at the end of a long wait, attendees were greeted with good humour, smiles, and a hot cob of fresh corn, shucked and boiled on the spot.

Henry Uliem, who was at the festival for the very first time on Sunday, was surprised to see the sheer amount of people so invested in corn.

“I didn’t think it wouldn’t be this extensive,” he said.

Pembina Valley businesses and local farmers were at the forefront of the Corn and Apple Festival, with many vendors displaying their wares at the farmer’s market.

“After COVID it was just like, I feel like more people are coming out to the festivals and supporting local, which is great,” said Kayla Wiebe, the owner of Border Hills Honey.