Members of the East County and Los Medanos College community came together to celebrate the first multicultural festival. The event, held on April 25, attracted more than 600 people with a diverse offering of food and entertainment throughout the three hours.
Thanks to a collaborative effort from the Honors Program, Puente Program, LMC Associated Students, the Office of Equity & Inclusion, and the Inter-Club Council; the event kicked off and saw several students, faculty and family members celebrate the rich diversity of their community.
As students entered the Student Union Conference Room they were handed six tickets to be exchanged for free food provided by several local restaurants. The cuisine was diverse and several countries were represented such as the Philippines, Peru, Mexico, Pakistan and Korea among many others.
LMC Dean of Equity and Inclusion, Rosa Armendariz, praised the hard work of the students responsible for putting the event together and expressed how she was “super proud.”
“I think [the event] has been going very well. I think it is the kind of event that we dream about having at the college,” said Armendariz. “It has students, faculty, staff, families and community members.”
While participants indulged in the many different cuisines, live entertainment featured several performers such as the Pittsburg High Ballet Folklorico, East Bay Karate-Do, the Pittsburg Prodigies, and lion dancers from Lion Dance Me.
Event host and Honors Club President Muskaan Adeel received high praise for the festival, commenting on its success shortly after wrapping up.
“I think [the event] went really well. Everyone was enjoying themselves, everyone was happy, everyone was playing around. It was good,” Adeel said.
Adeel also contributed a large portion of the event’s success to those who planned it alongside her and made it possible.
“I couldn’t have done it without my honors officers first of all, they have been such a gem in my life just to be able to plan something as big as this,” said Adeel adding “I couldn’t be more thankful.”
As the event finished its final performances, the event concluded with a quick fashion show for those dressed in their cultural clothing to walk across the stage to show off their outfit.
“It’s nice to see these cultures represented here in such a big way,” Derrick Boyle said.
Puente President Gabriel Perez Cano echoed similar sentiments and commented on the size of the event.
“This was one of the biggest events of the year so far,” said Cano. “I think [the event] went pretty well overall.”
With the turnout of the multicultural festival, many participants and volunteers have high hopes due to the size of the crowd that was drawn in and invested.
“I pray that this sets the standard for this event to keep going because it was such a huge turnout,” said Adeel. “I don’t think anyone is not going to do it again.”
With the resounding success of the first multicultural festival, the future looks bright for the continuation of this event.
