Paifang was established in July 2024 as a grassroots queer festival in Montreal’s Chinatown. The project was designed to address the cultural and social isolation of queer Asian communities by creating intergenerational links with local residents through multidisciplinary programming. During its inaugural event, Paifang successfully engaged over 300 participants, demonstrating a clear demand for culturally specific, queer-centered spaces in the neighborhood. Over the subsequent 14 months, the team focused on capacity building, piloting a series of framework-refinement workshops supported by the JIA Foundation. Most recently, the Paifang Collaborator Project (supported by SAF) has laid the groundwork for Paifang’s transition from a mentorship-based model to a large-scale, high-visibility community activation for the July 2026 cycle, supported by an expanding ecosystem of partners and community collaborators.
YEARS FUNDED
2026
AMOUNT ALLOCATED
$5,000