It’s time to reunite, reflect, and rejoice!
West-Can Folk Performing Company warmly invites you—our past members, supporters, friends, and the wider community—to join us for our long-awaited Gala 2025, a spectacular celebration of over 44 years of cultural excellence, impact, and legacy, taking place on Saturday, July 19 at Sophia Reception Hall in LaSalle.
In January of 1978, West-Can was born out of a simple but powerful desire: to preserve, practice, and share the rich traditions of the Caribbean right here in Montreal. Our name—West-Can—pays tribute to both our West Indian heritage and our place in Canadian society, a bridge between two worlds. In 1981,
West-Can became an officially incorporated non-profit organization, carrying the motto: “Unity is strength where numbers fail.”
What began as a grassroots initiative—rehearsing in Nato & Annie’s small apartment, garages, borrowed community rooms and church basements—has since blossomed into one of Canada’s leading Caribbean cultural institutions. Over four decades, West-Can has shared the vibrant rhythms of drumming, dance, storytelling, theatre, and song with thousands on stages, in schools, in festivals, in corporate spaces, and at community events. West-Can has always been more than just a performance group. It is a space of belonging, empowerment and pride. A home away from home where generations have come to connect with their Caribbean roots and create new cultural memories in a Canadian context.
Cultural visionaries like Neville “Nato” & Annie Brown and many others helped shape and guide this movement, laying the foundation for what West-Can has become today. Their wildest dreams likely did not imagine that, more than 44 years later, West-Can would still be alive and thriving led by new hands and beating in the hearts of a new generation.
Through good times and challenging seasons including the recent years of uncertainty, West-Can has endured because of love for culture, dedication to community, and the belief that these traditions must live on for the next generation. Our mission remains clear: to transmit valuable cultural knowledge, ensure succession, and keep the spirit of Caribbean culture alive in Canada.
West-Can Gala 2025 promises a truly magical evening bringing together past, present, and future cultural ambassadors. The program will feature a dynamic showcase of Caribbean folk dance, drumming, theatre, steelpan, and song, performed by both seasoned West-Can artists and vibrant new talent. We are especially proud to welcome international guests from Belmont Freetown Cultural Arts & Folk Performing Company of Trinidad & Tobago, whose presence will add energy, authenticity, and joy to this milestone event. The celebration doesn’t end with the performances! After the show, the night continues with a 4 course meal, Caribbean sweet table/ midnight buffet and dancing.
West-Can Gala 2025 also serves as an important fundraiser to sustain West-Can’s next chapter. Funds raised will help us expand educational programs, empower youth leaders, and bring us closer to establishing a permanent cultural home. A dream many of our founders held, and which remains a vital goal today.
Whether you are a founding member, a former dancer, drummer, choir member, costume maker, actor, playright, volunteer, a parent, supporter, or someone who has simply admired West-Can from afar, this is your moment to be part of the story. Reconnect with old friends. See familiar faces you haven’t seen in years. Laugh, reminisce, and marvel at how far this community has come. We want West-Can to thrive for another 44 years and beyond to continue nurturing the creativity, confidence, and cultural pride of future generations.
This is more than an event. It’s a living, breathing tribute to the people, the culture, the love, and the legacy that built West-Can and to the bright future still to come.
Tickets: $150 each | Table of 10: $1350
Reserve your place today: www.zeffy.com/ticketing/west-can-gala–2025
Contact: 514-641-9149
Email: info@westcanfolk.com
Presented in collaboration with CKUT 90.3 FM.
