Festival focuses on diversity

The Recreation Center decorated for the annual International Food & Cultural Awareness Festival along with the table props.
Photo Submitted by Christopher Miller.

The International Food and Cultural Festival took place at FAMU’s recreation center Friday.

The event was hosted by the FAMU International Education and Development, FAMU Student Health Services, and FAMU’s Campus Recreation center.

The event aimed to promote the types of diversity that FAMU has around its campus as well as around the world. It featured educational booths and international foods from all around the world. Along the walls of the recreation center were flags from the different countries.

The recreation center was packed with people in line waiting to get some of the (free) cuisine from the different cultures. The food included pasta with a meat sauce and baked ziti from Italy, chow mein from China, Spanish chicken and German brats, along with some other food.

“I enjoyed getting to taste some of the cuisine that came from the different cultures. With FAMU being an HBCU I enjoy how they are not just structured to focus more or so on our own culture but allow us students to learn about the other cultures and exposing us to new things that we probably would not see on a regular basis,” Junta Manigault, a graduate student at FAMU, said.

Asiah Brianna, a FAMU student who volunteered at the event, was serving food to all of the students, faculty, and staff that came through to the line.

Brianna said, “This is such an eye-opening event that FAMU continues to put on annually. I was excited when I got the opportunity to be able to volunteer.”

After people picked up a plate to eat they were then allowed to walk around and visit the tables of the different ethnicities. There was a table with information about Nigeria, Jamaica, Haiti and the Bahamas.

Doney Eden, a senior biology major, had a good time going around to the different tables and learning about the different cultures.

“The event was very heart-warming. Being an international student from Honduras my culture is completely different from the other cultures that was displayed at the event. One thing I got from this event is to appreciate your country and the diversity within its culture,” Eden said.

The festival included cultural performances. They also made sure to include a fashion show showcasing the different fashions from the different cultures.