FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS –The 10th annual International Festival at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis offers the opportunity to eat, explore and learn about international engagement opportunities at IUPUI and in Indianapolis.
The festival will take place Feb. 27 in the Campus Center, 420 University Blvd. The festival is free and open to the public.
A pre-festival event will take place Feb. 18, when the IUPUI International Club presents the sixth annual International Fashion Show, featuring IUPUI students from almost two-dozen countries. The fashion show will be at 6 p.m. on the fourth floor of the IUPUI Campus Center. It celebrates the diversity of the IUPUI campus while showcasing traditional and contemporary fashions from around the world.
This year’s festival features a daylong lecture series hosted by the Department of World Languages and Cultures at IUPUI, in cooperation with the IUPUI Office of International Affairs and Center for Service & Learning. The lectures, which begin at 9 a.m. in Campus Center Room 309, include a panel on international service learning, moderated by Susan Buck Sutton, who served as the first associate vice chancellor for international affairs at IUPUI.
The Office of International Affairs will announce at 11:15 a.m. on the first floor of the Campus Center the annual Susan Buck Sutton Award winners, recognizing IUPUI faculty and staff who have made significant contributions to the study abroad program at IUPUI.
The awards ceremony will be followed by several international performances.
Other festival events include a best dressed contest, where faculty, students, staff and community members can vie for a $25 gift card from the IUPUI Barnes & Noble Bookstore by wearing clothing from their home country or a place they’ve visited. The student organization with the most entrants wins a $100 gift card.
The IUPUI flag collection is on display in the Campus Center until March 3. The collection, curated by the International Center, includes flags of all U.N.-recognized member states.
Free ethnic foods from four countries and one region will be provided by IUPUI Food Service: nikujaga from Japan; braised mushrooms from China; chicken kofta and lentil stew from Saudi Arabia; pozole from Mexico; and basboosa from the Middle East.
More than 30 IUPUI schools, clubs and organizations are participating in the festival along with the Indianapolis mayor’s International and Cultural Affairs office, Mexican Consulate in Indianapolis, Nationalities Council of Indiana, Global Gifts, Scottish Society of Indianapolis and other community groups.