The community in Airdrie, Alberta, is helping combat hunger through its Empty Bowls Arts Festival.
The Empty Bowls Arts Festival is a community-driven initiative to combat hunger and is scheduled to run from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Airdrie Food Bank (AFB) on September 13.
AFB has been hosting this event for nearly 20 years. This year, the festival will feature local musicians, children’s activities, artists, a free soup lunch, and a silent auction with handmade pottery bowls for purchase. All proceeds raised during the event will help AFB provide emergency food support to those in need in the Airdrie region.
AFB is inviting local potters to create and donate bowls for the Empty Bowls event. The idea of Empty Bowls began in the 1980s and became a global effort to raise awareness about hunger, first starting in Michigan in 1990. Potters make handmade bowls, which are decorated at community events and then used at soup suppers where people share a simple meal of soup and bread.
The event is free, family-friendly, and meant to bring people together while highlighting the issue of food insecurity. The Airdrie Food Bank feeds 700 to 800 families a week. You can find more information about the event on the AFB website.
