MADDIE LITTLE
Special to The Leader
On Monday, Nov. 18, the Intercultural Center (IC) at Fredonia hosted their annual Culturefest in the Williams Center, MPR.
This is the fifth year this event has been put on. However, it wasn’t always called Culturefest or designed for all cultures.
Culturefest was first known as “Holiday Hotspot” in 2013.
Kim Miller, Administrative Assistant for the IC said, “Holiday Hotspot” was put on to showcase holidays that aren’t really celebrated around this time of year, such as Hanukkah and Three Kings Day.”
The name of the event was changed to Culturefest in 2014 by the Native American Student Union. They began to host this event celebrate their own culture.
In 2015, more groups were added to the IC and the Culturefest turned into an event hosted by the IC to express each group’s culture.
So they began hanging flags around the MPR each year to represent multiple countries.
Many were happy to see the African Student Union back in effect and participating in this year’s Culturefest. The group is happy about the positive turn-out this semester.
Students say this year was the most diverse, and the number of people that attended was much larger than last year.
Nia Morse, a sophomore, said,“It was an energy-packed, activity-based event, and I was happy to be the host of it along with Deoniss Jackson.”
Every intercultural group was required to conduct activities all night. These activities included vision boards, photo booths and a unique game of “Heads Up.”
There were performances by two dance teams: Envied Xpression and EnFusion Dance. Fredonia’s step team, Blue Ice and one of Fredonia’s singing groups, Divine Sound, performed as well.
The Intercultural Center believes you can’t put on a cultural event without food. Students were able to get ethnic garbage plates as long as they had a ticket.
Senior Staff Associate Executive Director Khristian King said, “The best thing about Culturefest was seeing all the groups support each other.”
This year’s Culturefest was a great turnout. Students and staff showed lots of support for their favorite groups and enjoyed the performances.