The Festival endeavours to have entertainment going on the Stage in the Park to ensure that every minute of this event is fun. See who we have booked so far!
*More entertainment to be added in coming months.
FESTIVAL HOST
Ainara Alleyne is a 16-year-old high school student from Hamilton, Ontario. Ainara curates the Instagram page @ainarasbookshelf, where she highlights books for young people whose authors and main characters are Black, Indigenous, people of colour, differently abled and other underrepresented communities. She believes that by experiencing other cultures and perspectives through books, we can not only acknowledge our differences but understand and embrace them. Ainara was Hamilton Public Library’s first Junior Librarian in residence and speaks to student teachers at various Universities and pedagogy symposiums, and has been featured in the New York Times, CBC, CTV and numerous podcasts. Her middle book review TV show, also called Ainara’s Bookshelf, which she created, co-wrote and produced, airs on TVOkids and is currently available on YouTube.
Amy is a passionate educator, dynamic presenter, curriculum designer, and kinesthetic learning specialist who thrives on creating joyful, captivating learning environments for students and teachers. Her work brings classrooms and community spaces to life by engaging the whole self – Body, Brain, and Being!
She is the founder of Moving EDGEucation, an educational community partner working across a wide range of school boards. Since 2010, Amy has worked with more than 1,750 public schools, with movement-based learning programming and resources that span Dance, Math, Language and Reading, Social-Emotional Learning, and Leadership Skills – all while moving to music. Amy has led thousands of live student workshops, events, and teacher professional development sessions, built a growing library of classroom resources, and shared her teaching approach at leading conferences including SXSW EDU, the Canadian Principals Conference and on the TEDx stage with her talk “How the School Day Got Its Groove Back.”
Amy believes wholeheartedly that learning should move you…literally!
When she’s not immersed in all things education, you’ll likely find her on the dance floor, lost in the woods, or learning to play the piano.
