Bowling Green celebrates various countries, cultures

A young girl rearranges flags outside the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission information tent at the International Festival on Sept. 27. William Kolb/HERALD

Jessica Voorhees

Ethnic aromas pervaded the air as vendors cooked cuisine from countries like Uganda, Mexico and China for people to try. Crowds perused tents featuring dresses, jewelry, gifts and home furnishings. 

Festival-goers cooled off from the heat by sampling Italian ice or Chinese bubble tea.

These were just some of the offerings at the Bowling Green International Festival.

The festival celebrated its 25th anniversary on Saturday at Circus Square Park where local, international and student groups represented a variety of countries through dance and musical performances, food, merchandise and information booths. 

This year the festival featured several new vendors and performances, such as the Island Hula Girls, Adil Kadhim, who performed Iraqi heritage songs, and the HOPE and HOLAS dance group.

Georgetown junior Marissa Webb, who represented HOLAS at the festival, said the group presented on Ecuadorian culture and performed salsa, merengue and reggaeton dance. 

Webb said she thought it was important to display the Latin American culture that is represented by many Bowling Green residents. 

“I think it’s so important because Bowling Green has a lot of diverse cultures,” she said. “I think it’s really interesting to see it all come together with everyone’s culture, and how even though there’s differences in dance and language, there’s still a lot of the same values.”

Angela Jones, president of the Board of Directors for the Bowling Green International Festival, said the festival relies heavily on volunteers to participate, especially WKU students.

“The international student organizations bring a ton of their students,” Jones said. “We always look to them to have a good representation of lots of cultures, and a chance for the students to share that.”

Jones said her favorite aspect of the festival is the sharing of diverse cultures.

“There are moments when you see people of obviously different backgrounds with their arms around each other dancing and singing, or they’re sampling each other’s food and having a good time,” she said. 

Jones said the festival showcased the wide range of cultures represented in Bowling Green.  

“I really think it just captures the spirit of what Bowling Green is about,” she said. “We are just a really small town in Kentucky and people don’t expect us to be diverse, but we really are, and this is just a snapshot bringing that all together in one day.”

culture that is represented by many Bowling Green residents. 

“I think it’s so important because Bowling Green has a lot of diverse cultures,” she said. “I think it’s really interesting to see it all come together with everyone’s culture, and how even though there’s differences in dance and language, there’s still a lot of the same values.”

Angela Jones, president of the Board of Directors for the Bowling Green International Festival, said the festival relies heavily on volunteers to participate, especially WKU students.

“The international student organizations bring a ton of their students,” Jones said. “We always look to them to have a good representation of lots of cultures, and a chance for the students to share that.”

Jones said her favorite aspect of the festival is the sharing of diverse cultures.

“There are moments when you see people of obviously different backgrounds with their arms around each other dancing and singing, or they’re sampling each other’s food and having a good time,” she said. 

Jones said the festival showcased the wide range of cultures represented in Bowling Green.  

“I really think it just captures the spirit of what Bowling Green is about,” she said. “We are just a really small town in Kentucky and people don’t expect us to be diverse, but we really are, and this is just a snapshot bringing that all together in one day.”