Go Play Outside Blog Post

Go Play Outside Invites UFV’s Flood Stories Project Team to Summer Pop-Ups

Community events push for creative expression and farming appreciation

Written by Sydney Marchand

On Thursday, August 25 the Flood Stories Project was delighted to participate in Go Play Outside, a free summer pop-up event offered by the City of Abbotsford’s Culture and Recreation department. The event occurred every Thursday from June 30 – August 24, offering the community a chance to connect with local artists and organizations from surrounding areas.

Though it was a hot summer day, the pop-up, located at Mill Lake Park, was a complete success! Families were drawn in by the bright purple tents, craft tables, and outdoor equipment stretched across the park. The Go Play Outside setup invited children to venture from tent to tent, participating in each activity at their own pace.

This was perfect for the Flood Stories project because, as the pop-up was located in such a calm environment, it provided the team with a chance to engage in genuine conversations with children and their families about what they experienced during the November 2021 flood events. Many of the conversations between the team members and participating families involved a reflection of the floods, the emotions that were brought on by the floods, and the importance of their stories. The safe space provided by the Go Play Outside event allowed participants to convey these moments of fear, hope, and obscurity in a creative and expressive manner.

As well as the artistic projects created, the Flood Stories tent also provided a space for children to participate in conversations with each other—an unexpected bonus of the event. Many compared stories of the “brown water” around their homes or the animals they saw trekking through the flooded fields.

Reflecting on the event, there’s no doubt about it: the conversations and stories that accompanied the children’s drawings were the highlight. The relaxed atmosphere allowed our team to connect with those in attendance and offer them the chance to express their flood stories in a way that validated their emotions.

Children are resilient beings, and community events like this one provide a space for them to be reminded of their strength and courage.