Flags representing every country line the entrance to two giant tents in the Heritage Park Towers lawn on the Boca campus. As the flags flap freely in the breeze, the smell of Indian food fills the air. Students rush in hordes to tables filled with ethnic food. And within an hour, more than $5,000 worth of food is gone.
This was the scene at this year’s annual Sundance multicultural festival, held Nov. 16. The outdoor event featuring music, dance and – of course – food, was the grand finale of a weeklong program of events sponsored by Student Government to celebrate FAU’s diverse student population. One of the biggest SG events of the year, officials put the festival together in just two weeks.
“We had Thai, Indian, Spanish and Latin food,” said Trey Grellia, SG director of marketing, who also assisted in putting together the Sundance menu. “There was even vegan and Jewish food.”
Chartwells spent more than $5,000 to create the ethnic menu, and they supplied enough food to feed about 500 students, SG officials said. But no one knows for sure how many students actually attended. Estimates ranged throughout the night from 500 to 1,600 students.
ICC (Inter Club Council) Director Mary Geffrard credits the food for the event’s large attendance. “I’m happy with the turn out – food brought them in, and then they just sat down.”
“I’m impressed by the turnout,” said Mohammed Ali, president of the Muslim Student Organization. “It was very important for us to come and represent the Muslim culture, and I’m very glad so many students came out to support the event.”
SG officials attended ICC meetings – all clubs are required to attend in order to receive funding – and offered all cultural clubs up to $300 to order food for the event. Only 10 of Boca’s 135 clubs participated in the festival, and six were given money to showcase their ethnic food.
Students for Israel were among one of these clubs to receive funding for food.
“I think it’s really important that all the different cultures get involved,” said Ben Wacks, president of Students for Israel. Wacks ordered humus and pita bread, Israeli chopped salad, falafel and baklava. “We really wanted to bring the Israeli culture to the students and food always works.”
The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) also had a table to feature their club. “We come to this event every year,” SHPE member Juliana Patino said. “You need to understand other people and their cultures – this is a great opportunity.”
SHPE’s menu featured Latin favorites, paella, arebas and empanadas. “Our food was gone within minutes,” Patino said.
Though the food was gone by 7 p.m. – only an hour into the festival – the festivities continued until 11 p.m. with culturally inspired dances and musical acts. Among the most popular performances were the Spanish guitar duet by “Latino Fire” and the traditional Greek dance by the Hellenic Student Association.
“Although we ran out of food, I think it [went] very well,” Student Body President Austin Shaw said. “The turnout is much better than last year.”
