The world came to downtown Raleigh this weekend, bringing its traditional food, clothing, crafts and dances. Raleigh’s 31st annual International Festival was held from Friday to Sunday in the Raleigh Convention Center. This festival is funded by the nonprofit organization International Focus Inc. and was attended by people from throughout the Triangle.
This year, hundreds of people representing dozens of countries took part in this event. The festival consisted of art, multicultural food, native performances and clothes, among other things.
“The people in the Triangle wanted to celebrate their culture, so they came together and started this festival,” said Ella Fang, the director of special projects for the International Festival. “Since the Triangle has been becoming more and more diverse, we hope more people will find this event a place to call home and share their culture.”
The International Festival first began in 1986 in the old Raleigh Civic Center. According to the International Focus website, the festival was established to “promote respect and increased understanding among people of diverse origins by developing awareness of the many cultures in our community.” The festival inspired the creation of International Focus Inc.
Those running the booths at the festival were almost exclusively from the country they were representing.
According to Fang, International Focus Inc., an organization that strives to facilitate exchanges across cultures as well as promoting business, arts and education, is able to fund the event and rent out the location through help from the city of Raleigh, many sponsors and certain organizations that rent their booths.
“This is a nonprofit, so it’s not about making money,” Fang said. “It’s more about giving community artists a place to show their dances and help nonprofits raise money for themselves. Some of these booths are not restaurants, they’re just a community of people coming together to sell their food.”
According to the International Focus website, the festival greatly impacts the community through the relationships and connections that are made there. These have caused new organizations and associations to be created within the Triangle, like the American Turkish Association of North Carolina.
“We really want to score the diversity in our local area, show that we have a multiplicity of nationalities here in the Triangle area and just open people’s minds and have fun,” Fang said.
Many vendors and food stalls are available at this year's Raleigh International Festival. The festival celebrated its 31st anniversary this year and featured over 60 cultures from around the world. The festival ran from Friday to Saturday at the Raleigh Convention Center.
