Staff Writer- Evangelyn Hill
While located in a small midwestern town, Gustavus Adolphus College still contains a diverse set of cultures and nationalities. This upcoming Friday, many of these cultures will be on full display at the International Festival, hosted by the International Cultures Club.
From 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Alumni Hall, Gustavus students will showcase the culture of their nation or heritage. The event involves a fashion show of traditional dress, tables showcasing different countries from around the world, and free food from La Mexicana.
Senior Mary Athorp, social media manager for the International Cultures Club, summarized the event.
“The title for the festival is World Tour: International Festival 2026. With that, we’ll have around 27 countries represented at the festival… Students attending the festival will each get a ‘passport’ and as they travel to each country, they’ll get a stamp for their passport.”
Sset (Adria) Zermeño Rocha is one of the main organizers of the International Festival. “My idea for the festival was that I wanted to give each country or culture a spotlight to highlight whatever they wanted,” Rocha said.
Students were given free rein to showcase the things that inspired or excited them about their country or heritage. Rocha said, “If you wanna talk about an artist you love, if you want a cake that just says Brazil, go for it.”
She explained that the Festival is designed to be like an “interactive museum” with food, music, art, architecture, and more on display.
The International Festival has been a tradition for years.
“It’s been a tradition over the years, so we were kind of set up to do it from the beginning. As for our theme, we just wanted to include as many people as possible, so we used “World Tour” to kind of cater to that,” Athorp explained.
One goal of the Festival is to get Gusties interested in the different cultures of their fellow students. Rocha explained that often, people don’t realize that their classmates or teammates hold this deep knowledge of a culture that other students might know very little about.
One example of this that Rocha pointed out is the student leading the Scotland table at the Festival, Bronwyn Nuss. “I had no idea that she had Scottish ancestry,” Rocha said, “and she started explaining how the kilts they wear have different colors for different clans.”
Encouraging this cultural curiosity is what the International Festival is all about. One part of that curiosity, of course, involves trying new foods. Many of the 27 countries represented at the Festival will be showcasing a snack or food.
What is Rocha looking forward to most? “I think the one that I’m the most excited about… I’m not really a fan of coffee, but Ethiopia, they have Ethiopian coffee, but I’m interested in it because… it smells good so maybe it’ll make me like coffee.”
Students are encouraged to attend, and even participate, in the coming years. The organizers hope that students will take away a new appreciation for the cultural diversity of Gustavus.
“I think it’s cool that we can show [GAC’s diversity] off, and give students the platform to do it,” Rocha said.