In celebration of the diverse cultures present on the Gustavus campus, the annual International Festival will be held on Saturday, Nov. 19 as an entertaining and educational way for the campus community to learn about other cultures.

The festival will be hosted in Alumni Hall and is planned to run from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Hosted by the International Cultures Club, the festival is a showcase of the cultures represented on campus, ranging from Vietnam, China and Japan to Russia, Germany and Sweden. Cultures, which may be represented by individuals, groups or organizations, will provide displays, information and conversation concerning their culture during the first part of the event, when students and other attendees will have the opportunity to walk through Alumni Hall and browse the displays.

The second part of the festival will feature performances by various cultures and a fashion show of traditional and modern dress.

“The festival is always a really great and fun event. It is both entertaining and educational. I think it is a great way to learn about cultures and diversity outside of the classroom and is also a way to learn about the community that everyone is a part of here,” Junior Political Science Major Andrei Hahn, president of the International Cultures Club, said.

Hahn also placed emphasis on the importance of community in putting on the festival.

“Community is an important aspect of Gustavus. It is one of the five pillars. As people with diverse backgrounds are a dimension of our community, I feel as though the festival will be a beneficial way for them to learn more about the diverse members of this large group they are a part of,” Hahn said.

Although the main purpose of the festival is a sharing of cultures, the actual format and content of the festival has varied from year to year but has always involved country displays, music, singing and dancing.

This year, the organizers of the festival are excited to be able to offer a broader selection of food prepared by various cultures involved.

“We were able to get enough funding for the festival this year to be able to offer more food. Food is an extremely important part of experiencing other cultures and without it, the festival is missing a little something. We are very excited to be able to bring the campus community together around our diverse dinner table,”  Hahn said.

Food will include African, Korean, Chinese and cuisines of other cultures. Along with the addition of food to this year’s festival, the International Cultures Club is also excited to host six delegates from St. Peter’s sister city, Petátlan, Mexico. The delegates will have a display and will be bringing many cultural artifacts.

The International Festival is successfully establishing itself as a Gustavus tradition, having been around for more years than participants can recall.

“I have been at Gustavus for ten years and have been lucky to be involved in the International Festival each year.  I think it has been an event for many more years, but I don’t know how many,” Jeff Anderson, adviser to the International Cultures Club, said.

Members of the International Cultures Club are looking forward to a great turnout for the festival this year and are hoping to top the festivals of past years.

“I am not excited for one particular thing about the festival—I am extremely excited about the entire thing. I feel like we are overall more on top of things this year. We are more organized, have more participation and are working with a larger club,” Hahn said.

This year, Gustavus welcomed the largest ever group of incoming international students in the college’s history.

“It is absolutely fantastic that the new international students are getting involved. We have more club participation than ever before and we also have more people participating in displays of culture at the festival,” Hahn said.

Junior Communication Studies Major Bushra Wahid, who has participated in the festival for the past three years, is responsible for both organizing part of the festival as well as participating in it this year. She will be representing her native country of India in the fashion show and is contemplating performing a Bollywood dance for the performances.

“I really hope that students come and enjoy the festival, first and foremost. I also hope it to be a learning experience for them. I would like them to appreciate the differences in cultures but also to notice what we all have in common. It is the latter that surprises me every time. Cultures that I thought would be so different from mine are actually so similar,” Wahid said.

“I really hope that a lot of students come, learn, taste and experience other cultures. There will be a lot of great energy in the room and overall it will be a lot of fun,” Anderson said.

“We are definitely looking forward to our best International Festival to date. With more displays and participation than ever as well as the addition of food to the event, we are really looking forward to doing it big so I hope that a lot of people stop by,” Hahn said.