The City of St. Catharines and FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre have been nationally recognized for Celebration of Nations gathering of Indigenous arts, culture and heritage. They jointly accepted a Cultural Event Award from the Creative City Network of Canada, alongside the gathering’s Artistic Director Michele-Elise Burnett and Artistic Producer Tim Johnson at the 2023 Creative Cities Summit in St. John’s, Newfoundland on Thursday afternoon. Celebration of Nations is held annually at the PAC in early September. The weekend gathering offers a unique blend of both traditional and contemporary Indigenous perspectives. The CCNC Awards of Excellence are presented annually to celebrate the outstanding achievements of Canadian municipalities in cultural programming.