A Taste of Culture will play host to a multitude of informational booths, live entertainment, food from around the world, arts and crafts, and short educational discussions. Bringing together the customs, traditions, color, and flavor of peoples from diverse ethnicities highlights what organizers feel made the event successful in its inaugural year. Admission for this annual event is free and open to the public.

Local vendors, restaurateurs, and community members will provide samplings of food representative of ethnic cuisines from across the globe. Donations are encouraged and will be accepted for purchase of food tickets to sample the food on hand.

Proceeds from donations for food items will benefit minority scholarships at Ohio State Marion.

Music and dance from around the world will also be a big part of this event. Groups performing include: local hip hop dance company Diverse Moves, Bethlehem School of Dance, Mid Ohio Martial Arts, Nalanda School of Dance, and a display of performance of authentic Somali dance.

Clubs and cultural presenters for this year’s festival represent a wide range of diverse ethnicities from Cambodian and East African culture to henna painting by the Bharatiya Temple Society of Central Ohio.

A group of students, faculty, and community members will provide short informational discussions into diverse customs and ways of life from their personal, educational, and travel experiences.

Shawn Jackson, coordinator of diversity at The Ohio State University at Marion, feels offering the international festival is paramount to fostering diversity initiatives for both the campus and the community at large.

“The world is becoming increasingly diverse. With the advent of global travel more prevalent, increased trade between countries, and the advances in global communication, we are truly becoming a global village,” said Jackson.

For more information on A Taste of Culture, contact The Ohio State University at Marion Office of Diversity at 740-725-6219.