CU students (left to right) Moeko Kubota, sophomore marketing major, Martin Castarena, senior biology major, Hoodish Domun, freshman finance major, Abdullah Alhashash, freshman accounting major, and Natalia Marroquin, junior environmental design major, discuss ideas as part of the graphics team of the International Students & Scholars Program in the C4C on Jan. 15th. This group is one of many committees preparing for the International Festival on April 11th. (Sarah Meisel/CU Independent).
The 25th annual International Festival will offer students the chance to see the world’s cultures in one afternoon.
The International Festival Committee at CU had its first meeting Thursday. The 17 students that make up the committee discussed the different subcommittees and how they will proceed with the organization of the festival. This will be the 25th anniversary of the International Festival at CU. The festival will be held on April 11th in the UMC ballroom and UMC 234 from 4-10 p.m.
The International Festival offers cultural performances, such as musical and dancing shows as well as food samples from different countries that are served to visitors. Each country has its own booth that presents a map of the country and gives further information about the country’s culture and history. Countries represented at the 2014 Festival included countries from all of the world’s populated continents.
Natalia Marroquin, 21, is an environmental design junior and the second co-chair of the committee. She said the agenda for Thursday was to introduce new and old members of the subcommittees and start planning and organizing the event. The festival’s subcommittees focus on food, graphics, publicity, and fundraising.
The committee collects applications for food and booths, promotes the event and recruits students to organize and participate in the festival. Applications for booths and performances must be submitted by January 23rd.
“We had 32 countries represented last year and hope that it will be even more this time,” said co-chair Yuvin Kokuhennadige, a junior engineering major.
Civil engineering senior, Italo Saraiva Gonçalves, visited the festival last year and enjoyed the different presentations. “It’s like travelling around the world in one day.”
Gonçalves plans to visit this year’s festival and hopes that even more countries will participate. “It’s great! CU shows that it cares for different cultures and also opens a space for people to share their culture.”
This event is CU’s largest student-organized event, and according to Marroquin, this year’s International Festival will have a special surprise to honor the event’s 25th anniversary.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Lena Schneider annalena.schneider@colorado.edu
