Chico Goes International

It was a perfect 86 degrees on April 26, 2008 when Chico came alive with a healthy blend of assorted cultures. It was the 30^th anniversary for Chico States International Festival, which for the first time in history took place in the downtown plaza. Away from the Campus and into the heart of the community, International Festival became “Your passport to the taste, the sound and the vision of the world.”  It was a vibrant social gathering that brought students, faculty and members of community together in a celebration of the cultural diversity that dwells in the midst of our city.

Between the hours of 11am and 4pm the plaza was filled with an array of student organizations with displays of food, music and special décor that marked their culture uniqueness. Amongst the crowed there were many familiar faces for instance, The Pilipino American Student organization (FASO), whose meeting I attended earlier in the semester, was there serving their famous lumpia. The Business Resource Center was also present, and though this is an organization that exist without any distinct cultural affiliation, they showed their support by adopting an Hawaiian theme- serving Hawaiian  floats with ice cream and flavored soda.

The entertainment seemed to really contribute to the vibrant cultural atmosphere. During my stay short stay (about an hour and a half), I enjoyed a musical performance by Orquestra Gitano as well as a Haitian dance troop and Chico’s own Capoeira team (a Brazilian form of martial arts). But perhaps my favorite part of the festival was of course the food. From Tacos served with Horchata to delicious Indian food (below), I filled my stomach for the entire day with no more than $10.00.

For the past 3 years I have enjoyed attending the International Festival, and the slight twist with the change in location certainly added to its dynamism. Danielle Buford, a friend of mine who currently serves on the Multicultural Affairs Council (MAC) took an avid role in planning this year’s event. Danielle explained that while the event could be classified as a success, the most important element was to gain insight and feedback from those who participated. She tells me:

“Having the event downtown for first time was really a trial and error type thing, we wanted to seek feedback so that we could take all recommendations into consideration – it was a good turnout, but there is a lot that we can still improve on in the future.”

As Danielle said, moving the event to the downtown area was a change that may certainly be improved upon, but from my own perspective it definitely made the event more accessible, which in turn created the necessary exposure to promote more community involvement.  Not to mention the setup, which was limited in space, required booths to stand closer together this I found fostered a greater connectedness between people, a sense of unity that has been difficult to achieve in the past.

I think that if the Multicultural Activities Council and AS Presents continue to put forth the same amount of effort with International Festival, it will continue to be a success. It’s refreshing for the community to have the opportunity to experience diversity within Chico. The level of student involvement in International Festival is phenomenal, and when different organizations come together like they did on Saturday afternoon; it really shows what Chico State is made of.