Happy Holidays from the Local Organizing Committee!
Dear friends,
The very best wishes for a most beautiful end-of-year season as well as a Happy (past) Zamenhof-Day.
As you already know, August 1-8, 2020 Montreal becomes the global capital of Esperanto, hosting the 105th World Esperanto Congress (UK) exactly 110 years after Zamenhof’s famous visit to North America — did you know that he also visited Montreal? Read about it in the special Zamenhof “Riveregero”! I hope you are as proud as I am that our country has been chosen to host the biggest Esperanto event of the year!
As I type this (on December 19, 2019), 353 participants have already registered from 43 countries, and Canada is in second place by numbers of people registered, which actually is a good number because usually, during the first registration period, approximately one third of all participants normally sign up. We expect more than one thousand participants — and we hope that there will be a huge number of us Canadians too. If you are planning to attend (and I certainly hope that all of you members of KEA and ESK will attend), I ask that you sign up now during the first registration period: that is, by December 31, 2019. You should know that the artistic budget is set depending on the number of subscribers in the first period, so that the more registrations that come by the end of December, the richer an artistic program we will be able to have.
Secondly, we are proud to announce a joint program of grants from the KEA, ESK and LKK (Loka Kongresa Komitato). The grant program is aimed at helping youth and persons in need to participate in the UK. There is also some extra money to help with travel costs, and also grants for participants in one of the two short Esperanto courses before the UK (one will be held in Montreal, and one during the ILEI congress in Quebec City). The deadline for grant applications is February 28. Read about the grant program here: https://esperanto2022.ca/eo/
In addition to the courses before the UK, there will be various other arrangements around the UK – Esperanto and non-Esperanto. As you develop your summer plans, consider these arrangements as well, because you may want to come to Montreal a little earlier or stay longer. Read all about it here: https://esperanto2022.ca/eo/
Organizing the UK is a huge honour, but also a huge responsibility and a huge task for the LKK and its helpers. Consider volunteering during the UK — most of the volunteer work will be needed in the area of administration (to help register people, for example) on Friday, just before the UK. Here’s everything you need to know about volunteering! https://esperanto2022.ca/eo/
Another important thing — thank you to everyone who has already donated money to the success of the UK. That will really help make our artistic and other programming richer and more beautiful. If you haven’t donated yet, there’s still time to do so. https://esperanto2022.ca/eo/
The Second Bulletin with all the information on accommodation, pre- and post-congresses and excursions is now in preparation and will be coming soon! If you can afford to stay in the Sheraton Hotel downtown (our convention location), we ask you to do so, because if we occupy a defined quota of the rooms, we will get all the other sites at a better price. If you cannot stay in the Sheraton, there will be many great options, in every price range (including youth hostels). YOU *DO NOT* NEED THE SECOND BULLETIN IN ORDER TO JOIN THE UK, so it’s best to register now, this year! Here is everything about registrations: https://esperanto2022.ca/en/
Please don’t hesitate to spread this message to all Esperantists or potential Esperantists! It is important that this message also reaches all Canadian Esperantists, even those who are not necessarily members of KEA and ESK. Note that our site has all the main information not only in Esperanto, but also in French and English, for beginners.
In friendship,
Ĵenja Amis, LKK-Secretary / Communications / KEA Board member