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Peace-themed contest winners named at Surrey festival

Second annual Give Peace a Chance festival held at Fleetwood Community Centre
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Dancers with Kvitka Ukrainian School of Dancing perform during Surrey’s recent Give Peace a Chance festival at Fleetwood Community Centre. (Photo: submitted)

SURREY — Winners of peace-themed literary and fine-arts contests were announced during the recent Give Peace a Chance festival held at Fleetwood Community Centre.

The second annual event, organized by Surrey-based Global Peace Alliance, was held on Oct. 7 in a gathering loosely timed with the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, observed on Sept. 21 this year.

Local author and poet R.B. Herath formed the alliance in 2013 to spread his vision, which he outlines in a book called “A New Beginning for Humankind: A Recipe for Lasting Peace on Earth.”

• READ MORE: ‘Give Peace a Chance festival returns to Surrey venue in October, from Sept. 28

Contest winners were announced in four age groups.

For Literary Art submissions, Aditiya Nautiyal was the winner of the Age 5-12 group, and Linda Xia won the Age 13-17 category. The Age 18-64 group was won by Kuldip Bassi, and Dr. Jagessar Das was named winner of the Age 65 and Over category.

For Fine Art submissions, Hayden O’Brien won the Age 5-12 group while Carley Chung was named winner of the Age 13-17 category. Emmanuel Villanuel won the Age 18-64 category. No winner was announced in the Age 65 and Over category.

Special awards were given to Sarah Widanage, African Stages Youth Group and Jessica Davis for video submissions, along with Chandni Ambwani for biggest artwork submission.

A full list of winners can be found at peacealways.org.

The festival featured a wide range of performances by local dance and music groups.



Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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