The International Festival has been a yearly tradition for Spartanburg since 1985. It is a festival held to honor the diverse residents in the community, including people from 75 different countries and 100 international businesses. This year, the Festival was held at Barnet Park on Oct. 7, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. All around the park, tents were set up to represent various countries like Japan, Thailand, Italy, Brazil and many more. At each tent one could try food from the country, listen to traditional music and learn about culture.
The Communications and Marketing Manager for the City of Spartanburg, Christopher George, gave his take on the International Festival in an interview with GoUpstate.
“It (the International Festival) has taken on new significance as we’ve seen Spartanburg’s growth accelerate over the past several years,” George said. “The Festival is an important way to show newcomers from all over the world that Spartanburg is a place that embraces and welcomes them.”
Going to enjoy and explore the Festival was completely free, but if visitors wanted to try the food, they had to purchase tickets. Because the Festival is an annual event, many people have attended for consecutive years.
Bella Gibbs (11) and Claire Hammond (11) have both been to the International Festival several times and have always enjoyed it immensely.
“My favorite part of the Festival is being able to see all the cultures that make up the Spartanburg community. This is an amazing time for our community to come together and celebrate the people that make Spartanburg, Spartanburg,” Gibbs said.
Hammond always tries to go to the Festival when it comes around in October every year. She loves learning about the different cultures.
“I always go to the International Festival when I can. My favorite part of the International Festival is going around to each booth and learning about the different cultures. I think it is a good thing to learn about different cultures,” Hammond said.
A major part of the Festival each year is the parade of nations. The parade includes dance and music performers from many countries. They march through the festival and end on the main stage. Spectators line the route to watch as all the countries parade by in a beautiful assortment of colors, flags and patterns. The Festival also supplies children with makeshift passports to get stamped at each country’s tents they visit while at the Festival. The full passport can be traded in for a prize and leaves young guests with a fun souvenir to remember their time at the Festival.