By Dimitrije Martinovic
Dimitrije is staff with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

Sunday in the Park is an annual community wide festival celebrating the talents, richness, and diversity of Regent Park. 2022 marks the 31st year of its running, and this year's festival called “Resilience and Revival” drew on the strength of its arts and culture community to build and deepen social cohesion and promote social inclusivity. This year's event was additionally significant as it was the first year that the event was held in person since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Sunday in the Park is organized by  Healing As One in partnership with the Social Development  Plan (SDP) Community Building Working Group and Sunday in the Park Planning Committee which includes, Toronto Community Housing, Regent Park Community Health Centre, Tridel Builders, Focus Media Arts Centre, Regent Park Neighbourhood Association (RPNA), Daniels, Artscape, TNG Community Services, Fred Victor, Artscape, and Young Street Mission YSM.

Billed as the “Resilience and Revival” iteration of the festival, the overarching theme was the promotion local arts and culture, with many booths featuring local artisans, community groups, small purveyors of culturally appropriate food, and the much loved big barbecue. The festival is the high point in the summer calendar of social events that provide area residents with an array of focal points to engage with each other and with the wider community - these social events are the foundation for community building.  

This year's festival was co-hosted Murshida Samsun Mueen, Walied Khogali,  Adonis Huggins was the MC, and special appearances were by Kristyn Wong-Tam the new MPP for Toronto Centre, Grace Lee Reynolds (CEO Artscape), and Rabia Alsabaie, Market Cochair- Community Working Group. This year's entertainment line-up featured: Neguss and the West African Drummers, Tara Moneka and Dijlah, Free the Revolution, Tyra Jutai, Megan Stock, Mario Munoz, Happy Dancers, Inner Truth Taiko Dojo, and DJ Dhananjay Thiyagarajan.