Multicultural Expo fuses festivals

Annual cultural festivals around Bloomington joined forces for the first time this year to showcase one massive festival Saturday in Bryan Park.

Bloomington Multicultural Expo 2009 united with Festival Latino, the Moon Festival and the Soul Food Festival to offer visitors a more diverse cultural experience.

The Bloomington Black Business and Professional Association organized the Soul Food Festival, La Casa Latino Cultural Center at IU organized the Festival Latino, and the Asian Culture Center organized the Moon Festival.

“We utilized the multicultural festival as an umbrella,” said Lillian Casillas, director of La Casa and co-chair for the expo’s planning committee. “When we had the separate festivals, we didn’t have the mixture of people. ”

Members of the Commission on Multicultural Understanding and Bloomington’s Safe and Civil City Program meet each year to identify ways to celebrate diversity, Casillas said. Three members of the committee were affiliated with the other festivals, she said, and they came up with the idea to combine them.

“We all have limited resources,” Melanie Castillo-Cullather, director of the Asian Culture Center said. “If we pull them together, we can do more.”

The represented festivals were split up into separate villages to give each its own identity, Casillas said.

The International Village was added to showcase  international diversity, said Sandy Britton, director of the Leo R. Dowling International Center and co-chair of the planning committee.

Jennifer Rios, president of the Latino Enhancement Cooperative, said they asked the representatives of the booths to be interactive.

“We wanted the booths to be more hands-on,” she said. “Mostly for the community, but also for the kids.”

The Mathers Museum of World Cultures provided activities in each village corresponding with the cultures of the villages in which they were placed, said Deeksha Nagar, curator of education for the museum.

“We’ve always been participating in multicultural festivals,” she said. “We’re taking traditional art forms to the community and giving children the opportunity to make an artifact and learn about the context.”

Sophomore Emma Engelhardt is a volunteer for the Mathers Museum. At the museum’s Soul Food booth, children could play Mancala, a game where players try to move stones across a game board. They could also build “I have a dream”  mobiles, she said.

Beverly Calender Anderson, director for the Safe and Civil City Program and head of the Soul Food village, said the Multicultural Expo helped bring diversity to one spot.

“It’s a good venue to showcase things that are important to you,” she said. “Socially, we stay in our own circles. Here you can look out and see Bloomington, see everyone in Bloomington.”