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Carbondale community comes together to celebrate diversity

Hot temperatures and even a brief rain on Saturday afternoon did not stop people of all ages from enjoying the music, food and cultural activities at the second annual Ethnic Festival at the Carbondale Town Square Pavilion.

Numerous bands with musical styles ranging from Latin, reggae, jazz and bluegrass played throughout the weekend while people gathered to celebrate diversity in Carbondale. Merchants also brought a wide variety of foods including Mexican, Cajun and Middle Eastern.

The theme of the festival was "Celebrating Our Diversity, Strengthening Our Oneness." According to Sara Berkbigler, the executive director of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce, approximately 3,000 people attended the two-day event.

The idea for the festival came from Berkbigler, who grew up in Springfield with a similar event. Noticing the diverse community the University brings to Carbondale, Berkbigler believed the festival would be a great addition to the community.

"I just think it was a lot of fun where I grew up," Berkbigler said. "Here, with the diverse community and the aspect that the University brings to it, it just makes it really special. There's kind of something for everybody."

Having a family of her own, Berkbigler enjoyed the idea of creating a festival that people of all ages could enjoy without spending much money.

"It's a nice family kind of thing where you can come and not have to spend a ton of money," Berkbigler said.

The children's activities included tents representing different countries and cultures including Africa, India and Japan. According to Beth Mochnick, the Community Programs coordinator for International Students and Scholars, the activities were organized by community and regional groups and by SIUC international students who volunteered their time for the event.

"The students are very proud; very pleased to be able to share the richness of their cultures with our children," Mochnick said.

The tent representing India, organized by the India Association of Southern Illinois, gave children the opportunity to make the Indian flag from construction paper, have Henna decoration applied to their hands, make a Rakhi, a traditional Indian armband exchanged between siblings, and be robed in Indian attire and receive a Polaroid picture as a keepsake.

According to the president of the association, Harvinder Singh, the group decided to participate this year after receiving positive feedback from the community last year.

"We participated last year," Singh said. "We enjoyed it, and I think the community really liked the exposure."

Singh believes the festival is important in order to show people the differences and the similarities of people throughout the world.

"I think it's very important to know how people live in the world," Singh said. "And how each person is a little different but again still similar."

According to Berkbigler, planning for the Ethnic Festival takes about 10 to 11 months. A committee of 13 people plans the activities for the event and part of the fund raising is provided through the 15 board members of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce.

"We'll do a wrap up meeting and kind of talk about what went on, what could have been improved, what could be changed or didn't work, and we'll talk about that in a few weeks," Berkbigler said. "Then [we'll] take a month off or so, and then we'll gear up again. It's constant planning for an event of this magnitude."

Regardless of the work and planning that it takes to put on the event, Berkbigler says the results are worth all of the hard work.

"There's a lot of work leading up to it, but I remember last year once it started, we could see everybody coming together and having fun and it really made it all worth it," Berkbigler said. "We couldn't wait to do it again. It's just a really fun, community event."