With the variety of cultures around the world, one may find it hard to stay informed about all of them. Grand Valley State University aims to help by hosting its 10th annual Intercultural Festival. The event will be held from March 15-21 on both the Allendale and Pew campuses.

Food, music, dances and displays will be available, along with ready-to-access information on global cultures.

“(The Intercultural Festival) recognizes that culture represents a spectrum of traits in people, not just confined to ethnicity,” said LeaAnn Tibbe, assistant director for the office of student life. “Grand Valley values the diversity found on our campus and supported throughout the programming of the Intercultural Festival.”

One event that was popular last year, and is back for yet another, is Culture Shock Entertainment – an innovative program implementing hypnosis with exposing misconceptions on race. The event will be held on March 17 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Grand River Room in Kirkhof. Another event returning to the festival is Night Around the World on March 18 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Kirkhof Room 2201. The event provides the audience with performances and food, hoping to give attendees a taste of cultures around the world.

GVSU provides education for almost 400 international students alone. Tibbe hopes that students receive “an appreciation of the diversity found on our campus” and adds that any student can benefit from the information provided.

The festival will also host movies sponsored by Spotlight Productions, including The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and Through the Lens Film Fest.

The remaining events will be lectures, trivia, dances, art viewings and more. These will be listed on GVSU’s home page event calendar as well as the Intercultural Festival’s website at
http://www.gvsu.edu/if/.

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