At 10 a.m., The Drill Field was covered with people. The smell of food lingered in the air.
However, it was not a school day.
On a sunny Saturday morning, students of all nationalities converged on The Drill Field to celebrate their individual cultural heritage during the 13th annual International Fiesta. Sponsored by the International Services Office, the event featured dancing, music, demonstrations, goods and food from around the world.
The event began with a parade of flags from different countries. Many attendees attired themselves in their traditional native clothing. Others wore shirts emblazoned with their respective national flags.
Vimal Kamadia, a food science graduate student, worked the table at the India Pavilion, showing off native jewelry.
“The different wardrobes, the different food–it’s all great,” said Kamadia about the event.
The India Pavilion also featured a cricket demonstration given by the MSU Cricket Club. During their presentation, many of the barefoot cricket players learned the hard way that the metal stage was hot.
“Thank goodness we had coolers on hand,” said Karin Lee, office manager of the International Services Office.
Chuan-Yu Hsu, a biochemistry graduate student, relaxed near the Taiwan booth.
“I’m just walking around and enjoying the event,” said Hsu.
The Taiwan booth attracted a large number of visitors by featuring a game “kind of like a Chinese Plinko” where attendees could win progressively greater amounts of food.
Students from Japan, South Korea, China, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and United Arab Emirates were among the many who operated booths.
The stage was also a busy place, featuring an African fashion show, a Tae Kwon Do demonstration by Starkville Martial Arts Academy students and several folk singers and dancers.
Sammira Rais-Rohani, a kindergarten student at Sudduth Elementary and daughter of aerospace engineering professor Masoud Rais-Rohani, joined a small group of children and adults in singing a traditional Filipino song, “Awit Ng Paga-asa.”
Sammira’s mother, Grace, said, “It’s a song of love and hope.”
Representatives from the MSU Television Center were also on hand to promote the SCOLA (Satellite Communications for Learning) broadcast on channel 30. Ralph Olivieri, director of the center, was pleasantly surprised by the number of international students who said they watched the broadcasts.
“Many students are faithful viewers. Some have said they come home for lunch just to catch a broadcast,” said Olivieri
Lee said, “I think the Fiesta went extremely well. Last year, we had a big crowd and we didn’t think we could get any bigger, but we did. The community involvement was great. We’re attracting people from all over the region.”