Posted on September 27, 2007
The Harrisonburg International Festival will host its 10th annual celebration of cultural diversity and ethnic tolerance at Hillandale Park on Saturday.
The festival, which lasts from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., will include a variety of culturally educational events, vendors, artists and musicians from diverse ethnic backgrounds in and outside of the Harrisonburg community exhibiting their talents.
Based on its tenets of entertainment, exploration, eating, and education to progress cultural understanding, the festival will have something special for everyone, Vaunda Brown, one of the event’s co-chairs, said.
Thirteen food venues ranging from Venezuelan cuisine to international cookies will dot the park grounds, and the World Bazaar will feature the crafts of 20 local artisans, Brown said.
“In celebration of our 10th anniversary we’re reaching out to the community through education—bringing in international educators to foster active community involvement,” Brown said.
Among the new activities this year are a multi-language area where ethnic community members will be giving short classes teaching their native language and a Teen Space Fest that provides art projects, sports and activities and entertainment for young adults, Brown said.
International music, ranging from Appalachian and Mariachi to Kurdish will also be a staple at the festival.
“It’s an ongoing job to promote cultural tolerance,” Brown said. “And [the festival] tries to use the arts and languages to continually promote it.”
Though the brainchild of Russian immigrant and artisan Vladimir Rossashansky, the festival is, and has always been, a collaborative effort among the city’s educational institutions and its large and small businesses, Brown said.
Fifty-seven local and national sponsors are contributing to the festival this year.
“It’s one of the greatest things that happens in this town,” said Ernie Didot (’88), who operates A Bowl of Good, one of the vendors participating in Saturday’s festival.
“You have a real cross-section of the population working together,” Didot said, of his past experiences with the festival. “And it’s the best situation for students to interact with locals.”
“[It] opens people’s eyes to how diverse Harrisonburg is,” junior Bonnie Chhoeung, outreach coordinator for the Community Service-Learning Center at JMU, said. “[The festival] wants to get people out of their bubble to show what Harrisonburg has to offer.”
Over 400 volunteers from local universities, colleges and high schools will be assisting in this year’s festival. They’ll be helping with a variety of tasks, from children’s activities to parking cars, Chhoeung said.
According to final estimates by the festival, 170 JMU students will volunteer Saturday with other volunteers coming from Eastern Mennonite University, Blue Ridge Community College and Harrisonburg High School.
“In all ways [the festival] was great—socially, financially, and culturally,” Didot said. “It’s a shame it doesn’t get more attention.”
About Us | Supplements | Advertising | Contact Us
Website design by Erik Pitzer ('07)
