Founded in 2019, Folk Star Arts Academy Society is a community-based arts and cultural organization dedicated to promoting, preserving, and sharing Punjabi folk arts, culture, language, traditions, and heritage in British Columbia.
The Society creates accessible opportunities for youth, families, artists, volunteers, seniors, newcomers, and community members of all backgrounds to learn, participate, perform, and connect through the arts. Through workshops, classes, festivals, public performances, school programs, heritage activities, and cross-cultural collaborations, Folk Star Arts Academy Society supports cultural pride, intergenerational learning, artistic development, and meaningful community connection.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society maintains an open community membership for individuals who support its mission, purpose, and values.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society was founded by experienced Punjabi folk arts practitioners, cultural organizers, and community volunteers with a shared commitment to preserving and sharing Punjabi folk traditions in Canada.
Before forming the Society, the founders were actively involved in cultural performances, youth training, festivals, volunteer-led arts initiatives, and community programming across the Lower Mainland. As the Punjabi community in British Columbia continued to grow, the founders recognized the need for a dedicated arts and culture organization that could support traditional Punjabi folk arts while creating accessible opportunities for youth, families, artists, and the wider public.
Since its founding, Folk Star Arts Academy Society has grown through volunteer leadership, community partnerships, public workshops, performances, festivals, school collaborations, and intercultural projects. The Society continues to celebrate Punjabi heritage while welcoming people from all backgrounds, helping build cultural pride, youth leadership, intergenerational connection, and stronger relationships across communities.
The purpose of Folk Star Arts Academy Society is to promote, preserve, perform, present, and share Punjabi folk arts while creating meaningful opportunities for community members to connect with culture through education, performance, participation, and community engagement.
The Society exists to strengthen awareness, appreciation, and pride in Punjabi cultural heritage, especially among younger generations growing up in Canada. Through workshops, classes, festivals, school programs, performances, and partnerships, Folk Star supports cultural learning, artistic development, and the continued sustainability of Punjabi folk traditions.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society also provides an inclusive platform where people from all backgrounds can experience, celebrate, and learn from Punjabi folk arts while building respect, unity, and cross-cultural understanding.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society promotes, preserves, and shares Punjabi folk traditions while embracing cultural diversity and community participation. Through education, performance, mentorship, and collaboration, the Society creates inclusive opportunities for individuals of all ages to explore creativity, strengthen cultural pride, and use the arts as a bridge between cultures and communities.
A vibrant and inclusive community where the arts inspire creativity, celebrate cultural heritage, strengthen identity, and bring people together across generations and cultures.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society’s mandate is to preserve and share Punjabi folk arts, engage the Punjabi diaspora, support youth and emerging artists, and bring communities together through performance, education, visual arts, festivals, cultural programming, and cross-cultural collaboration.
Cultural Preservation
We are committed to safeguarding Punjabi folk arts, language, music, dance, instruments, dress, stories, and cultural traditions so they can be shared with present and future generations.
Community Engagement
We believe cultural arts should be accessible, welcoming, and rooted in community participation. Our programs create opportunities for people to learn, volunteer, connect, and celebrate together.
Youth Development
We support young people by providing opportunities to learn cultural traditions, build confidence, develop leadership skills, and participate in meaningful artistic and community experiences.
Inclusivity
We welcome participants, artists, families, volunteers, and audiences from all backgrounds. Our work encourages collaboration, respect, and shared learning across cultures.
Integrity
We honour cultural traditions while serving the community with honesty, accountability, transparency, and respect.
Respectful Collaboration
We value partnerships that are built on trust, cultural care, shared learning, and meaningful representation.
Community Well-Being
We create positive and welcoming spaces that support cultural pride, belonging, creativity, and connection across generations.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society supports a wide range of Punjabi folk and cultural art forms, including Bhangra, Gidha, Dhol, Punjabi folk singing, folk instruments, language learning, storytelling, traditional dress, theatrical presentation, visual arts, heritage displays, and cultural education.
The Society also supports creative collaboration and intercultural exchange, including multidisciplinary and cross-cultural projects that bring Punjabi folk arts into dialogue with other cultural traditions in respectful and meaningful ways.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society’s work is shaped by community needs, lived experience, cultural knowledge, and volunteer leadership. The Society is enriched by artists, instructors, volunteers, parents, youth, elders, and community members who share their knowledge of Punjabi language, music, dance, culture, and traditions with younger generations.
Through classes, workshops, performances, festivals, and public programs, participants gain exposure to cultural arts, learn from experienced artists, build confidence, and develop values such as discipline, cooperation, respect, responsibility, and leadership.
Volunteers are central to the work of Folk Star Arts Academy Society. As a community-based organization, Folk Star relies on volunteers to support programs, performances, festivals, outreach, registration, event coordination, hospitality, youth support, and community engagement.
The Society welcomes volunteers who are interested in contributing to cultural programming, arts education, community events, and the preservation of Punjabi folk arts. Volunteer participation helps strengthen community ownership, leadership development, and intergenerational connection.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society is recognized as a community-based arts and cultural organization that preserves and promotes Punjabi folk traditions while creating inclusive opportunities for youth, artists, families, volunteers, and the wider public to participate in cultural arts.
Through workshops, performances, festivals, partnerships, and school and community programs, Folk Star serves as a cultural bridge that supports heritage, learning, artistic participation, community connection, and cross-cultural understanding.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society is a registered not-for-profit society, founded in 2019. The Society has been a member of CID since 2021, a member of the Arts Council of Surrey since 2023, and has been classified by the BC Arts Council as an Arts Activator Organization.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society’s programs are designed to do more than entertain. They create opportunities for people to experience Punjabi folk arts as expressions of identity, history, emotion, movement, rhythm, and community pride.
Through public performances, workshops, festivals, cultural education, and community partnerships, Folk Star helps youth and families connect with heritage, supports emerging artists, creates volunteer leadership opportunities, and builds cultural appreciation across generations and backgrounds.
The Society’s work contributes to cultural preservation, youth confidence, intergenerational learning, public access to the arts, intercultural understanding, and the cultural vibrancy of British Columbia.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society is committed to creating welcoming, respectful, and accessible spaces where community members can learn, participate, and celebrate culture through the arts.
The Society supports inclusion, anti-racism, respectful cultural sharing, reconciliation, accessibility, youth engagement, and community-based arts participation. Folk Star is committed to working with artists, families, schools, volunteers, funders, sponsors, cultural partners, and community organizations to strengthen cultural heritage and build meaningful connections across communities.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society is guided by its bylaws, Board of Directors, membership structure, and community responsibilities. The Society is committed to transparent governance, respectful conduct, safety, accountability, and responsible stewardship of public and community support.
Membership applications are reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors in accordance with the Society’s bylaws. This process helps ensure that membership remains aligned with the Society’s purposes, values, and governance requirements.
Folk Star Arts Academy Society is focused on strengthening its role as a sustainable community arts and cultural organization in British Columbia. The Society’s ongoing priorities include preserving Punjabi folk arts, supporting youth and emerging artists, expanding accessible public programming, strengthening partnerships, developing volunteer leadership, increasing intercultural collaboration, and building long-term organizational capacity.
Through this work, Folk Star Arts Academy Society aims to continue serving as a trusted community platform for cultural learning, artistic expression, heritage preservation, and community connection.
+16043751300
FolkStarArts@Gmail.Com
13479 77 Ave #106, Surrey, BC V3W 6Y3, Canada