The music fills your ears as you walk through the sliding glass doors of Otten Brothers. You are surrounded by a furnace of people, colors, booths and exotic cultures. There are kids running and playing, teenagers crowding around booths and dancers showing off for their country. Everyone seems to be in a good mood at the 2011 International Festival.

On Nov. 4, the International Festival was held at Otten Brothers in Long Lake. The green house was filled with booths run by volunteers representing 25 different countries that were each surrounded by Orono students.

Commenting on these booths, Orono High School junior, Kristen Koscis, said, “It was really cool to learn about all the different countries and their people. Plus the extra credit was a bonus.”

The language teachers at Orono High School offered their students extra credit to attend and answer questions at the festival. Spanish teacher Marilyn Pedersen said she encouraged her students to go because “it gives students an opportunity to look at cultural elements from around the world.” The language teachers estimated that about half their students went.

This is the fourth year Otten Brothers has hosted this event. Meghan Bennett was the founder of this festival six years ago. She and four other women decided they wanted to bring more diversity to the community. One of these women was Renata Stephenson. Stephenson said, “the size and people in the planning committee changes every year but they always work well together to produce amazing results.”

Every summer this committee gets together and asks themselves “Do we want to do this again?” Every year the answer
has been yes. Stephenson said she loves “seeing how the community comes together and [she] enjoys how other people enjoy [the festival].”

There were about 12 adults who ran the International Festival on Nov. 4, but many other volunteers also made this festival happen. Some of these volunteers were Rotary Club members, All Star Construction who helped set up, volunteers from the different countries to run the booths, dancers from several countries and Orono students who helped clean up afterward.

Rotary Club member, Mary Bakken, commented saying, “[The festival] is a very community thing to do.”

Pedersen agreed and said, “The International Festival is a good opportunity for people in the community to get together, take the kids out and have free entertainment. It’s a nice community activity that brings us together.”

Abbey Saville is a Staff Reporter for The Spartan Speaks