The Pee’yah Festival

The Pee’yah Festival 

Pee’yah is a word I created while learning my indigenous language from my elders in South America.  I wanted to create an expression, a word that angelically described the type of love I bore witness to while in the jungles of Guyana being served cassava dishes by my ancestors and their descendants.

Pee’yah is an all encompassing love that surrounds a person with care, support and nourishment it means “everyone is fed” and that “we are all cared for together” “we are full together”.   

Naturally in awe of this deeply rooted and prolific love I wanted to create a celebration that highlighted what love in action looks like. So I created the Pee’yah Festival, to give kudos and attention to this form of love I call, pee’yah.

A market-fete (a term I dreamed up to honour roots, culture and heritage) and to honour pee’yah (love) in all its forms. 

During the summer months at Mel Lastman Square, all vendors are welcome, everyone is welcome here.

The Pee'yah Festival (Market-Fete) was created and developed by Janiece McIntosh aka Chloe Sanchez in 2022, it began as a story she dreamed up for a book she was writing.  She would tell her kids about a fictional town in Nova Scotia where they celebrated Black History month differently there.  After moving to Toronto she realized this ceremonial focus on Black love was missing from the cultural landscape of Toronto's Black communities & culture so she sought to bring it to Toronto in the form of pee'yah which means in her indigenous language "everyone is fed".  
Naturally, she wanted this to be true and sought to make her dreams a reality by partnering up with others who may share in her unique dream.  Once established the Black Love Market-Fete was born, birthed from a people's need to see themselves in another light, and pushed to feed themselves a more nourishing narrative.

Writing in third person 😄

Chloe “Cornstalk” Sanchez