January 10th saw the arrival of several food vendors at the Bruneau Centre to celebrate the International Food Festival, as part of Winter Welcome Week 2019. As my personal favorite event of the annual celebration, the event hosted numerous familiar faces as well as new vendors. Curry Delight and Fatima’s Indian Food showcased the culinary delights of India, while Safaa’s Kitchen brought the dishes of Syria to the plate. Au Natural, a vender specializing in homemade, healthy snacks also came with a variety of nut butters and granola bars. While not a food vendor, culture was also expressed through art with Marzana Tasmin’s Henna Magic Art. She makes beautiful Henna tattoos, and I highly recommend following her on Instagram at henna_magic_art. The Student Experience Office provided the event with live music, the talented likes of Peter Fewer and Jenny Mallard echoing throughout the lobby. Overall, the event was a lovely experience and an outstanding show of the inclusivity Memorial’s campus proudly boasts about.
The celebration of the diverse cultures continued the next day, January 11th, through the showcasing of craft from all over the world at The Loft in Memorial University’s Center. Henna Magic Art by Marzana Tasmin returned for the second day, along with several other vendors. Chinese lucky bags, adorable tiny bags that smelled like herbs, were brought to the table by Xiaoxi. Shannon set up a Scandinavian punch rug station, where visitors created vibrant rugs in reverse, punching through the back of the rug to make the design on the other side. A dream catcher station, which seemed to be the most popular of the bunch, was also set up by Hilary, with a variety of strings and beads for participants to use in customising their own dream catchers.
Personally, I have always found that the best way to understand and appreciate another person’s culture is to experience first-hand instead of watching or listening about it on TV. Therefore, giving people the opportunity to experience another part of the world through the native food and craft is a wonderful idea. Both the Cultural Food Fest and Culture through Craft events were wonderful monuments to the influx of diversity our community has experienced over the past few years. As a Memorial student myself, I would love nothing more than for such events to keep returning to campus each year.