The 25th Annual International Festival of Raleigh was held Friday through Sunday at the Raleigh Convention Center.
The program featured several exhibition stalls, performances, how-to cooking lessons, and food booths from hundreds of different nations across the world, ranging from Egypt and Bangladesh to Switzerland and France. Although the event was extremely popular amongst the entire Raleigh population, the festival garnered a large amount of N.C. State students, as well.
Whether coming just to watch or to volunteer a booth, University students were treated to a wide array of cultures. When first walking in, patrons were introduced to a red carpet on which they could walk and see several stalls, all representing different nations. Amongst these nations were Bangladesh, Switzerland, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.
Kaaenaat Mustafa, a junior in business administration, volunteered at the festival helping her mother’s Indian stall.
“It’s a really nice sight when people from all different walks of life and backgrounds can come together and educate others on their culture. I think that fact is what brings most people to the international festival, and that is what the purpose of our stall is,” Mustafa said when asked about her views about the festival.
On one end of the red carpet, however, was a long chain of food booths, from which festival patrons could purchase foods from all different cultures for a small price. Dozens of nations set up stalls along the strip to sell their foods, with nations such as Pakistan, Egypt, Kenya, France, Italy, and Afghanistan all being represented. The food was a big attraction at the festival, as well.
Shafiq Zaib, a junior in biological sciences, volunteered at her family’s food booth and was attracted to that aspect of the festival.
“People from all different walks of life came to the Pakistani food booth, wanting to experience our culture through the food and I felt proud to help them. It’s also worth noting that several booths donated their proceeds to charitable organizations in order to help those devastated by the recent floods in Pakistan,” Zaib said.
Zain Akhter, a senior in mechanical engineering, expressed how much he enjoyed the food when asked about the entire row of booths dedicated to selling food.
“Honestly, I like seeing all the different nations represented at the exhibition booths but the food stalls are the best. You actually get to experience a different culture, by eating their food and that’s what draws me to this festival every year. The different cultural performances on stage are also a big attraction for me,” Akhter said.
On the other end of the red carpet was a big stage on which groups representing different nations took turns dancing and performing for a lively audience. These performances included that of African drumming, Indonesian ballroom dancing, Hawaiian dancing, and Korean percussion.
Juwareyah Abdus-Saboor, a junior in social work, said she enjoyed the performances very much.
“I think the best dance was the Bhangra team’s from the Natya Academy. It’s always nice seeing their performances, since teams from this academy perform at many different programs,” Abdus-Saboor said.