Academy Students Experience Global Cultures at Annual International Festival

Every year Bowling Green hosts its International Festival.  Like many members of the community, Gatton Academy students are eager to get involved.  Whether it be to simply walk around the festival, volunteer, or work a table for one of the Academy’s clubs, several students were able to experience the multitude of cultures that were a part of the annual event.

Dozens of cultures and nations were represented from Japan to Scotland to Saudi Arabia as part of the festivities held at Circus Square Park in downtown Bowling Green.  Several Gatton Academy got involved with the festival itself, with many of them arriving early at 7 a.m. to help to set up for the event and others staying through the evening.

Charlotte Humes (’12), a leadership member of the Global Relief and Sustainable Societies (GRASS) club,  explained how nice it was to become involved with the Bowling Green community through the International Festival and have fun while doing so.

Three Academy clubs set up booths at the International Festival.  The Nikami club set up a booth to introduce fair goers to the Japanese culture.  The GRASS club set up a booth to help raise money to buy a water buffalo, heifer, and two goats for a family in need via Heifer International.  The club set up the notion of “cow tipping” and raised over $200 for their cause.

Amnesty International also set up a booth highlighting the club’s main focus this year: censorship.  At their booth, they gave the opportunity to people to sign a petition to release five Syrian detainees imprisoned for their involvement in popular protests.  Other students volunteered with the festival directly and helped set up, clean up, and work at the child care tent.

In addition to the Academy booths, other groups set up to help people learn more about  different cultures, the festival included a variety of food stands to interest  people through their stomach.  Those that went to the fair were able to experience everything from curry, fried plantains, baklava, gyros, Taiwanese bubble tea, Korean sodas, and everything in between.  For those that were less adventurous, there were also BBQ and funnel cakes.

A stage was also set up in the middle of the festival.  Here, those involved with the festival were able to display some of their ethnic traditions.  Traditional Bollywood dancing, tae kwon do, and belly dancing were only a few of the several talented individuals and cultural performances on display.  Music was also played on throughout the grounds, with some sounds coming from individual booths and others from the main, live stage at the heart of the festival.

Wayne Schmitt (’13) had difficulty choosing the element of the festival that he enjoyed the most.  “I thought it was a lot of fun,” Schmitt said. “I enjoyed learning about other countries and cultures. Not to mention, I really liked being able to try foods I had never tried before.  It’s hard to say what my favorite booth was, but I thought the dance performed by the guys at the Saudi Arabia booth was really cool.”

The day came to close around 7 p.m. with several Academy students still on the festival grounds.  Though they were tired, their day was filled with experiences of new cultures, raising awareness for causes, and stuffing their faces with ethnic food.

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Amnesty International, Bowling Green International Festival, GRASS, Heifer International