Cultures Celebrated on Campus

By: Yesenia Varela & Carolina Nieto

As Santa Ana College student Marissa Padilla walked around the amphitheatre visiting different booths, India caught her attention with its colorful jeweled decorations. As she received a henna tattoo from student Preet Kaur who emigrated from India, she also learned the history of henna tattoos, an important Indian wedding tradition.

SAC’S International Student Program hosted its 30th Annual International Festival that celebrated cultures around the globe with cuisine booths and performances on Oct. 30 in the college’s mall.

“This year, the festival was more interesting with a lot more volunteers that made it easier,” Preet Kaur said.

Students gathered around the booths set up by ISP volunteers to explore different countries by tasting the food, listening to the music and learning about cultural history.

Kaur, dressed in a brightly colored saree, has participated in three festivals and took the lead in setting up the India booth this year. The India booth, popular amongst the students, offered Curry and henna tattoos.

During the festival, performances took place to engage the students into the different cultures.

Middle College High School students Pablo Jimenez and Isabel Ortiz performed a Mexican Folkloric Dance. Both wore traditional clothing typically used while dancing this type of style.

“Its our third year selling Mexican food in the festival but its our first year performing for the international show,” Jimenez said, with glee post-performance.

The Mongolian dancer wore a colorful costume made of thick silk material that covered the entire body. In Mongolia, this costume represents the way of life.

The booths that were set up competed for awards.

India won an award for its food and Japan took home the President’s award, the overall best represented country. Mongolia received the performance award.

The attendance of hundreds of students throughout the day proved the festival’s success.