The annual International Festival of Cultures will cel­e­brate vary­ing back­grounds from around the world on Sunday, April 11.

“There will be dancers demon­strat­ing Latin Dancing, musi­cal instru­ments, singing, a piñata, and we are still adding enter­tain­ment,” said Shana Beisiegel, sec­re­tary of the International Center at FSU.

One of the per­for­mances includes sec­ond year music indus­try man­age­ment major Alice Dabandons. In her sec­ond year as a par­tic­i­pant of the fes­ti­val, Dabandons will be per­form­ing a Laotian dance with six other girls from the Asian Students Organization (ASO).

Dabandons said the event is some­thing that stu­dents from many cul­tures look for­ward to every year at Ferris.

“Culture shapes who you are,” said Dabandons. “If you some­how lose that, you end up los­ing a part of your­self that you should always have with you.”

FSU phar­macy stu­dent Truc D. Nguyen will be par­tic­i­pat­ing for the third year in a row. Nguyen will be a part of a Laos dance and a Vietnamese dance.

“For the Vietnamese dance, wear­ing our cul­tural clothes and danc­ing is sup­posed to rep­re­sent ele­gance and grace­ful­ness,” said Nguyen. “Our dance though is not too tra­di­tional because we added a lit­tle bit here and there from mod­ern styles.”

Christine, Ashley, and Julia Vue, sis­ters and Ferris stu­dents, chore­o­graphed three dances together this year: two tra­di­tional Hmong dances and one Laos dance.

“Ever since we were young my par­ents have always encour­aged my sis­ters and I to keep up with the tra­di­tion [of danc­ing], includ­ing per­form­ing for our Hmong New Years,” said Christine Vue, FSU pre-pharmacy stu­dent. “It has always been a part of us and some­thing we enjoy doing.”

In addi­tion to per­for­mances, there will also be food from a vari­ety of dif­fer­ent cul­tures cooked by Ferris fac­ulty, stu­dents, and staff.

“We are also hav­ing a 10,000 Village Fair Trade sale that will be tak­ing place at the same time in the Founder’s Room,” said Beisiegel.

The sale will include hand­made jew­elry, home décor, and var­i­ous other items. The profit made from these items goes toward bet­ter­ing the lives of thou­sands of arti­sans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

The International Festival of Cultures will take place on April 11 from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Rankin Student Center Dome Room. The enter­tain­ment is free and each food ticket costs 50 cents and can be pur­chased prior to the fes­ti­val at the International Center in FLITE. For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact Shana Beisiegel at beisies@ferris.edu or ext. 2824. n