Students can experience a wide variety of cultures through entertainment, refreshments and more at various cultural festivals happening on campus.
Smiles For Christ is hosting Latin Fest, where students can find food and music inspired by Latin American countries and a talent show.
“People will experience a taste of Latin culture,” junior Kristhel Vargas said. “We want people to feel like ‘mi casa es tu casa.’ (We want) to make people feel welcome in our culture and ‘in our home.'”
Latin Fest takes place today from 3-6 p.m. in the McInteer Rotunda. Tickets are $7 and can be purchased at the event.
Spring Culture Fest will take place on Saturday, April 18. The Multicultural Student Action Committee (MSAC) will host the event on the front lawn from noon-3 p.m.
Junior Aundrey Flewellen, president of MSAC, said that he loves this event because it incorporates traveling, exploring new places, tasting new foods and meeting new people.
“It inspired the thought of experiencing ‘all of the world’ at one time,” Flewellen said. “The purpose of this event would be to give students the chance to step outside their comfort zone and share a fun experience together that is new and unique that will last beyond graduation.”
Senior Doris Fuentes said she wants to see others learn about the different cultures, try delicious foods, enjoy fun music and broaden their worldviews.
“Being away from home can sometimes be hard and this is a way to feel closer to home,” Fuentes said. “We enjoy practicing our traditions like cooking meals from our different countries and traditional dances, while proudly representing where we come from.”
According to junior Dorothee Garcia, there has not been a big scale event that celebrates the diversity of all cultures represented on campus.
“I think the Culture Fest is a great way for students and members of Harding’s community to learn so much about other cultures in a fun environment, where they not only learn, but experience everything,” Garcia said. “As an international student, I love running into other foreign students and learning about their culture, and I’m sure other students do too.”
For Garcia, she said having the chance to showcase a number of countries and cultures in one location gives her the chance to share her passion for culture and her story as an international student. Garcia serves as the PR manager for MSAC and said this event will take all the groups of people that are involved with other events such as the Latin Fest, A Night in Africa and the Chinese Moon Festival and place them all into a larger scale event.
Admission is $5 before the event and $7 the day of the event. A portion of the funds will go to Lighthouse Children’s Home, a non-profit organization that provides shelter for abandoned orphans in Rwanda.
