An annual event put on by the Campus Activities Board and the Student Diversity Equality Committee is the Inter-Cultural Festival. This event was as bright as it was beautiful, and involved various forms of education. It appealed to all the senses, and was incredibly well-attended.
The first aspect that stuck out to me was the music. As soon as I entered the David Student Union ballroom, I was greeted by unfamiliar tunes. This immediately set the mood for the event. As someone who deeply enjoys music, I appreciated the variety of music that was played in order to represent the many cultures present.
The next attack on my senses was the smell. It was like walking into 10 different restaurants at once – an aroma of spices and other such scents greeted me. I immediately took to wandering the room to try out all the forms of food available. There were various forms of meat, often served with uniquely seasoned rice. A table full of delectable desserts held my attention more than anything else.
In the center of the room were many tables brightly decorated in the colors of different countries. Each offered hands-on activities, often with prizes. One table spoke about drag culture, complete with two wonderful looking students dressed in full drag array.
Two craft tables were on either sides of the room with activities to partake in. The first allowed students to make dream catchers. About a dozen students gathered around the table threading their own dream catchers and hanging colored feathers from the bottom. The other table was just as busy, with many students crowded around it to paint boomerangs. Some painted them to match Christopher Newport University colors while other attempted to design them specifically in the artistic style of a represented culture.
The last exciting event I witnessed at the Inter-Cultural Festival was dancing. A small dance floor stood on one end of the room, and a break in events allowed intro dance group classes to perform what they’d learned throughout the semester. Various forms of dances were represented, from modern to hula. The costumes and moves appropriately matched the cultured music, and transported the viewers to the various countries represented.
Overall, this event was both informative and amazing. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it was attended as well as to what great lengths it was put on in order to precisely capture the nature of the cultures represented. It is an event I will surely be attending in the years to comes.
