We received this press release at Carolina Arts while I was out delivering papers. I’m sorry for the late notice.
Here it is:
CULLOWHEE – Western Carolina University will celebrate the world’s diverse cultures at the 31st International Festival, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 7, 2010, on the lawn of A.K. Hinds University Center.
The festival is free and open to the public.
WCU’s International Festival promotes awareness and appreciation of different cultures through music and dance, arts and crafts, and cuisine from around the world.
“The festival brings the world to Cullowhee and makes the world look like a small global village,” said Christopher Pedo, an employee with WCU’s Office of International Programs and Services who is helping coordinate the event.
The festival will feature a variety of international food from countries such as Italy, Paraguay, Japan, South Korea and Mexico. Entertainment will include Cherokee elementary schoolchildren singing in the Cherokee language; a gamelan orchestra; a martial arts demonstration; a drum circle; Highland pipes and drums; a maypole celebration; and a soccer shootout.
Information about WCU admissions and international programs and services will be available, and representatives of student organizations such as Di Ga Li I (WCU’s American Indian student organization), the Asian Student Association and the Pagan Students Association, to name a few, also will be on hand.
Kevin Childers, also of the Office of International Programs and Services, has assisted with the festival since 1999, both as a student and an employee of WCU.
“As individuals, we want to express ourselves as world citizens,” Childers said. “I believe this celebration reaches much further than Jackson County.”
For a complete schedule of International Festival events, go online to (http://www.wcu.edu/26450.asp), or contact Pedo at 828/227-2557 or e-mail to (copedo@wcu.edu).
