Participants flew banners, played instruments and danced to their native music in demonstration of their far away cultures at the Baton Rouge International Heritage Festival on Sunday held by the Baton Rouge Center for World Affairs at the River Center.
BRCWA president-CEO Monika Olivier said the event mainly sought to educate people in an interesting way.
“The goal is education — [to] provide it in a manner that’s fun and people don’t even realize they’re learning,” she said.
The center hosted booths dedicated to countries from around the world, each grouped with others on the same continent. The booths offered cultural and geographical information about each nation, and stamped visitors’ “passports” that were handed out at the entrance of the River Center. In addition, the booths encircled an open space where various cultures displayed their unique dances.
“Our country is small and not very well known here,” said Sylvia Manolov, who has manned the Bulgaria booth for the past five years of the International Heritage Celebration.
Manalov said the event allows her to show elements of Bulgarian culture to Baton Rouge locals who might not know about the country at all. Her booth displayed various clothing styles and maps of Bulgaria.
Richard Abbott, a 14-year veteran of the event, donned a kilt to demonstrate his Irish heritage at the Ireland booth, where swords and instruments crowded the tables. Abbott, a member of the Baton Rouge Celtic Society of Louisiana, displayed information about various music, dog breeds and maps of the eight Celtic nations.
“It’s great to share cultures,” Abbott said. “A lot of folks don’t know what their heritage is.”
Felix Haase, an LSU transfer student, helped represent Germany at the event.
“We’re trying to get basic info about Germany across and maybe inspire people to visit,” he said.
The Germany booth also included representatives from the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief, who helped pump out flood water during Hurricane Katrina.
Outside, the event hosted other cultural booths as well as local and foreign foods like Vietnamese egg rolls and congee, Greek chicken and pork Gyros, and New Orleans-style sno-balls. The international groups also held a parade led by East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden that included various cultures in their traditional dress and Scottish bagpipers.
 
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Contact Austen Krantz at [email protected]