INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL:

The University of Central Oklahoma’s International Festival was hosted today in Ballrooms A, B, and C in the Nigh University Center. Students gathered to partake in the free music, food, and activities being held by different groups of international students.

There were booths for Western Culture, including an American booth and England, which was made up of a lot of fun, pop culture series such as Doctor Who and Harry Potter (and I’m pretty sure I saw a few Hogwarts students in their uniforms milling about with all us muggles!)

Eastern culture was represented all around; Taiwan, Vietnam, China. These students showed off their beautiful paper artworks (such as lanterns and sets for plays; I recall a boat and a cherry blossom tree in one of the booths.) The students in these booths also gave out free samples of indigenous recipes for the rice and chicken combination.

The Middle East was represented with the beautiful opening number of the festival; showcasing a Saudi Arabian wedding dance, where the bride’s maids danced for the bride. The music was vibrant and fun, and you could really tell that the students putting on these performances to show off bits of their home countries were enjoying the experience and being able to share that experience with their fellow classmates at UCO, whether they are native to America, or are from another country themselves.

It was very fun, but also very crowded and loud. It was hard to really take in all of the different booths when people were being so impatient.