Amidst the dancers, martial artists, and vendor booths, Sudbury's youngest climate change activist Sophia Mathur could be seen advocating #FridaysforFuture this afternoon, at the 48th annual Northern Lights Festival Boreal (NLFB).
Since hosting her first climate strike Nov. 2, 11-year-old Mathur has garnered national attention for introducing the global #FridaysforFuture campaign to Northern Ontario.
Joined by more than 400 adults and students at her last big rally May 3, Mathur said she was motivated by the growth in attendance these past few months and felt it was a good time to reach more of the Sudbury community.
"I think it's a great way to reach out to the city and its people, so we can have more people participating in our strikes and rallies, and just getting to know about what Fridays for Future is," said Mathur. "I think that everyone here has their own thing to express and we're here too - we're all here (at NLFB) basically, to learn from other people."
While this was the first time #FridaysforFuture has been advocated at NLFB, Mathur herself has been attending the festival for the past three years, demanding change alongside her mother Cathy Orlando.
As an international outreach manager with the Citizen's Climate Lobby, Orlando has been advocating at NLFB over the past few years for a number of climate-related causes, the most recent of which was carbon pricing.
"Ultimately, we're focused on a liveable world and we build political will by being for policies that will help do this," said Orlando.
This year, Mathur begged her parents to use their attendance at NLFB to spread awareness for #FridaysforFuture. Orlando, who has been bringing Mathur to climate conscience events since she was born, said she was not surprised by the request.
“She has got that this is a serious issue, but also, that if you just keep working at it, you can move forward,” she said.
In addition to providing information on the climate crisis, Mathur and her mother’s NLFB booth had petitions for guests regarding various climate change policies as well as a signup sheet for their next big strike, Sept. 26.
Then at around 1 p.m. today, Mathur invited friends from school and children from the festival to decorate parachutes and poster boards and hold an informal rally around the festival grounds.
When asked why NLFB has been chosen year after year to be the site of their advocacy, Orlando said it is an opportunity to connect with the community over a shared concern.
“I think artists and environmentalist are of the same silk - we’re creative in our problem solving, we have imaginations, we can see the future and artists, I truly believe, will soothe our souls at times of massive change,” she said.
“Get stuff done in a friendly and loving way, and you’ll make things happen.”
