14th Annual International Festival

                                                   Int'l Fest 2011

          The Bald Spot usually exudes two colours: the white of the snowy winter months, and green in other seasons. However, on the seventh Saturday of Spring 2010, it was littered with a sea of bright, vibrant colours. Passion red, shining gold and turquoise blue ethnic costumes were donned by the organizers and participants of SYNTHESIS, the fourteenth annual international festival.
          The festival was traditionally held in Great Space but to accommodate the growing number of festival attendees over the last thirteen years, it was brought outdoors last year. A total of over twenty student organizations participated in preparing and executing the festival that hosted more than 500 people. Packed into the two-hour program are fourteen cultural performances on stage and a chance to sample more than thirty ethnic cuisines. After filling up hungry bellies with delicious food, some festival on-goers participated in henna, face painting, calligraphy and origami. Some others participated in international games (a new addition to the program in 2010) to loosen up their tight bellies before lining up for food again while others marveled on the various ongoing performances on stage.
           Festival attendees were not the only ones who enjoyed themselves though; the organizers also had tons of fun in the process of planning.  Ten weeks of preparations for a two-hour event may seem excessive but watching people have fun celebrating cultural diversity made the long-hours of preparations worth it.  Combined efforts of the students in the planning committee and the participants of the festival brought both international and domestic students together and created a chance for the students across class years and cultural backgrounds to form friendships. It was truly a festival celebrating diversity in every way!*

Khant Khant Kyaw ’11
International Festival 2010 Committee Chair

*The 15th Annual International Festival was held on Saturday, May 7, 2011