Food and Culture Fair brings the community together

May 10, 2023May 10, 2023 Francesca Quaglia Ramirez 0 Comments

Students, professors, and people from the community of Pittsburg were forming lines to get food samples from the various tables during the Food and Culture Fair at the Bicknell Center on Saturday, March 4, 2023 in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Key Takeaways:

The ISA hosted the Food and Culture Fair at the Bicknell Center on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
More than 800 people attended the event this semester.

The International Student Association hosted its annual Food and Culture Fair at the Bicknell Center on Saturday, March 4, bringing the Pittsburg community together with hundreds of people in attendance.

The Food and Culture Fair is an event hosted by the International Student Association. They host one major event during the fall semester called the Global Fest and the Food and Culture Fair in spring.

For this year’s Food and Culture Fair, different student associations got together with the International Student Association to sell food samples of traditional food from their home countries. There were also performances from students who showcased traditional dances, songs and traditional clothes. This year they also had different booths where people could go take pictures, learn how to do origami and get henna tattoos.

Mansi Ahir, a Pitt State student from India, is doing a henna tattoo to another student at one of the booths at the Food and Culture Fair on Saturday, March 4, 2023 in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Hannah Dahl, a student from Pitt State, said that last Saturday there were more than 800 people who attended the Food and Culture Fair.

This event has been organized for many years, and every time there are more people who attend it. Some of these people are familiar to this event and they tend to return to either be part of it or experience it again.

Abhiraj Thakor, the current president of the International Student Association, said that some alumni came to the Food and Culture Fair to perform all the way from California. There are others who are experiencing the different cultures and the event for the first time.

Dahl said she learned about the event through transition classes and during orientation week. It is something that is talked about a lot on campus, and new students are encouraged to participate and showcase their cultures.

Thomas Detony, alumni from Pitt State, said that there is not a lot of events like this in Pittsburg. These kind of events happen once or twice a year.

“It is one of the few occasions in Pittsburg where you can gather so many different people from so many different places that can bring a bit of their culture through food, so people will definitely come,” Detony said.

Last year, students from MSSU came to the Food and Culture Fair for the first time because they have been hearing about this event. They even decided to start making their own food and culture fair and invited the International Student Association to attend their own.

Thakor said this year, MSSU once again attended the fair, bringing a group of about 21 people

Coleen Ndedi Ntepe, a student at Pitt State, said that most of these events where you can learn something different, just like the homecoming parade, can bring the community together. When it comes to trying new food, it is always something that brings people together.

The International Student Association has always seen many people experience different cultures, meet new people and learn about the different countries. They also see more part of the world in one place not only through the food but also through the international students’ many performances.