Huntsville, ala. (WHNT) – The Tennessee valley is home to people from around the world, and the International Society of Huntsville gathered the community to share these cultures on Saturday.
“Let’s learn about each other,” said Erica Washington, who was the master of the event. “I think that is exactly what we are supposed to do. Respect each other, work together, love each other, and as I said, mix and bind and bind the communion with each other.”
Jim Zielinski, IFIST public relations president, said Ecuador, Venezuela and Armenia were represented at the event for the first time on Saturday. People of more than 30 countries have participated, showing the traditional dress, music, food and dance.
“This kind of event, it is very good for children to have an education, to know different nations, their culture and their traditions,” said Varditer Harutyunyan, who represented Armenia.
Armenia is at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
“We must constantly protect our country, which was large, but is now becoming more and smaller,” said Anoush Place, who also represented Armenia.
Some of the nations represented at the festival do not agree on the world scene, but for those present, on Saturday was an opportunity to share culture. Each country has a rich history and many people have taken advantage of it to learn something new.
“Ghana was called Gold Coast because we had a lot of gold when the British came. When we got independence, we changed our name in Ghana, which was an old empire that already existed. Ghana is on the west coast of Africa. We border the ocean. We will border Togo and Côte d’Ivoire,” said Rudy Sakyi-Addo Ghana.
The event grows each year, additional countries joining themselves.
“We are a small country, but we have everything,” said Diana Dehelean, who represented Romania. “We have the Mouriens des Carpates. We have the Black Sea. We have the Danube river, with the most beautiful Delta in Europe, where it descends to the Black Sea. We have my hometown, which is sitting on seven hills, like Rome. It is a beautiful city. It is a beautiful country.”
The annual festival is free for the public.
