‘Face the World’ International Festival Will Celebrate World Cultures

The Carleton College International Festival, an annual campus-wide celebration of the world’s cultures, will be held on Saturday, May 8, between 2 and 4 p.m. in Sayles-Hill Campus Center. The event is free and open to the public.

The day consists of activities highlighting “the richness of cultures represented at Carleton,” according to entertainment chairpersons, Carleton junior Rashika Perera and senior Shaheynoor Talukder. “[The festival] gives international students a chance to show a piece of their homeland to Carleton.”

Four student coordinators—Perera, junior Edaeni Hamid, sophomore Eunice Ajambo and first year student Hans Bantilan—have been masterminding the event, with the help of a large network of student volunteers enlisted to cook for the festival’s “food court.” This popular feature of the festival typically draws large crowds, with lines stretching into Upper Sayles as festivalgoers wait to fill up a plate with homemade treats from around the world.

A series of performances will take place as the food is being served, including a martial arts demonstration, poetry, dances from Bulgaria, South America and Africa and songs from China, Pakistan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Korea and Zimbabwe. The festival also features several hands-on activity stations, offering instruction in henna hand painting, Japanese origami, Chinese calligraphy, making Indian chai tea and an Ethiopian dance workshop.

Several Carleton student organizations will have information tables available at the event including the World Food Program and the Model United Nations. The Carleton campus organization A.S.I.A. will sponsor a raffle and donate proceeds to charity.

The Carleton office of multicultural affairs, the office of international student programs and several student organizations are sponsoring the event. For more information and disability accommodations, contact the Carleton office of multicultural affairs at (507) 646-4014.