The Stardust Festival is returning once again this year but is now known as the Anangokaa Festival and the third edition of the festival will take place between September 30th and October 2nd in Timmins.
This year marks the “transformation” from the Stardust Festival to the Anangokaa Festival according a news release provided to SpaceQ. The new Anangokaa Festival is meant to “amplify Indigenous voices and cultural practices.” Anangokaa means “there are many stars.”
The organizers stated that the festival will “offer enhanced opportunities for engagement with Indigenous culture, including traditional practices such as living on the land, smudging, beading, and community feasts. Additionally, there will be a heightened focus on career exploration for Indigenous students, with hands-on demonstrations of space-related technologies and STEAM opportunities.”
Excited to be with Jason Michaud to announce the @SdustFestival, now known as the Anangokaa Festival, is happening Sept 30th – Oct 2nd in the heart of Mattagami First Nation & #Timmins.
We hope to see you all this fall at this one of a kind experience & community gathering. pic.twitter.com/l9HUfLLue9— George Pirie (@GeorgePirieMPP) April 26, 2024
Organizers are hoping to attract 500-1000 Indigenous students along with other students and participants and say this would make it the “largest Indigenous youth space-focused event globally.”
The festival will include an “inaugural Indigenous-focused rocketry competition named Thunderbird with K-12 and amateur categories, along with the Anangokaa Mining Rover Challenge.” The Launch Canada Competition which had been held in conjunction with the festival and organized by Launch Canada will take place at another date as a separate event.
While the festival is now know as Anangokaa, organizers still come from the Stardust Inc and Mattagami AKI, representing the Mattagami First Nations.