By Victoria Starbuck, Staff Writer

Published in print Apr. 15, 2015

On Saturday, April 11, a fantastic opportunity emerged for members of the UNCG international community. The International Festival, commonly referred to as I-Fest, gave international members of UNCG an opportunity to don their traditional clothing, bake the foods of their cultures, and share the history of their homelands.   

Tents lined the pathways between the library and the Stone building along College Avenue. Visitors weaved from “country” to “country” trying to get a taste of what each booth had to offer.

Arabic dancers linked arms in front of the Charles McIver statue as they joyfully beckoned “Come! Join us! Join us!” The gleeful notes of the Arabic dancers mingled with the wafting scents of the various food items, blending an incomparable stew for the senses.

I-Fest not only presented the great diversity of students at UNCG but it also divulged the sense of unity that has formed to create a global fellowship in this area.

Visitors from the wider Greensboro community presented tidbits of their cultural backgrounds. The stage set up in front of the Stone building facilitated short performances such as Bollywood Dance, K-Pop Dance, and Japanese Taiko Drumming. 

Refugee women, who are part of the Center for New North Carolinians’ group Crafty Conversations, sold ornate handmade items at a discounted price.

In addition to displaying the breadth of Greensboro’s diversity in terms of nationality, I-Fest boasted visitors of the UNCG community from the class of 2019 to those of 1965 and The Vanguard, a group comprised of UNCG graduates who have already attended their fiftieth reunion. The combination of past, present, and future, as represented by those attending Destination UNCG, I-Fest, and Reunion 2015, heightened the expressed diversity of the campus medley.

For visitors at I-Fest, the afternoon was a race around the world in three hundred minutes or less. This marathon included stops in twenty-four countries, represented by students currently enrolled at UNCG. Guests who acquired a disposable passport from the International Programs Center’s booth were likely to win a raffle prize if they collected a sticker from each of the countries represented at the I-Fest booths.

As guests ventured from one “nation” to another, they learned about Japanese origami, the origins of German foods and the ornate clothing of Morocco.

The line at one of the Saudi Student Club booth curled around the corner as people lined up to be decorated with Henna. 

The afternoon gleamed with the combination of excitement and comfort. Those who had not met prior to the festival conversed in an amiable manner. These connections helped make I-Fest an exemplary precedent for what it means to be a global community.