Ashley Manion
arm009@marietta.edu
This past Saturday, Marietta College hosted a Multicultural Festival and Lunar New Year Celebration at the Gathering Place. The venue quickly filled, with a large attendance compared to years past. The event was emceed by Yutaro Ito, Nagisa Harada, Eleanor Smith, and Arabella Parsons and offered a plethora of activities and entertaining performances. Eight countries were represented— China, Brazil, Guatemala, Japan, South Korea, Nepal, Lebanon, Ghana, and Russia— with tables featuring food, crafts, and other decorative items that displayed the significant aspects of each culture.
At the event, visitors were treated to a range of performances, including a lion dance, a traditional Chinese musical performance, a Kung Fu show by Sen Gao, a performance by the Mid-Ohio Valley’s Youth Choir, Sichuan Opera, a Taekwondo Demonstration by Ohio Valley Taekwondo Academy, a Culture Minutes presentation, singing by the Student Pioneers of Music Therapy, and traditional and hip-hop Japanese dances featuring Marietta College students.
Organized by Marietta College’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Asian Studies Program and co-sponsored by the Office of Education Abroad and Department of Modern Languages, this celebration showcased the incredible customs of various cultures in a warm and inviting atmosphere.
