'Fare' gives students a chance to see the world's offerings

Students can circle the globe in three hours at the Indiana Memorial Union.

The IU World’s Fare kicks off International Education Week today. Union Board and the Leo R. Dowling International Center teamed up to bring back the cultural event for its third year.

Sandra Britton, director of the Leo R. Dowling International Center, said 19 international student organizations will be
represented, ranging from Latin America to Asia, including Australia for the first time.

Each group is required to have its own booth that features a cultural display, including an ethnic dish, Britton said.

“It is an extraordinary program that hits on most of the international groups on campus,” said junior Jasmine Starks, director of the Union Board’s international & cultural events committee. “They can have anything on the table they want that represents their culture.”

In the past, singing and African dancing were some of the featured acts, and Starks expects to see other dance and song performances this year.

“Henna tattoos, which were a big hit, were also offered during the previous World’s Fares,” Starks said.

Each group submitted three recipes representative of its country, from which the IMU food service department chose one to cook, Britton said.

Britton said all of the recipes will be in a complimentary cookbook given to the first 450 attendees.

The show will open with an hour of musical numbers by the IU Steel Pan Ensemble and the Afro Cuban Ensemble. After a brief intermission, eight groups will have about six minutes each to put on a cultural performance.   

Monetary prizes will be awarded to first-, second- and third- place performances, Britton said. Members of the Bloomington community who are involved in travel and the arts will be evaluating the groups, with three judges for performances and three for cultural displays, Britton said.

“Seeing them perform definitely educates the campus and increases the acceptance, not just the tolerance, of other organizations and people on this campus,” Starks said.