The Unity Festival will be a day of music, food, and games, along with a chance to share and appreciate the diverse cultural representation at Millikin.
The Unity Festival will take place on Saturday, May 3rd, on Millikin’s campus.
It will be hosted by many culture-based groups on campus and will represent all the cultures that Millikin has to offer. The festival began being hosted by the International Student Organization (ISO), although this year they partnered up with a few other groups to create a larger and more diverse environment.
“What I envision for this event is just for people to come together, have fun, and get to know a little about some other cultures,” Guy Guhungu, President of ISO, said.
The Long Vanderburg Scholars (LV), Latin American Student Organization (LASO), Asian Student Association (ASA), and ISO partnered with the Midwest Music Expo (MMX) to make the Unity Festival possible.
Unity Festival is a great opportunity for students to share their culture while also learning about other cultures.
“[Unity Festival is a place] where international students could have freedom to express themselves but also to put out something from back home,” Gahungu said.
This is the second year this event has happened, although ISO, as well as the other organizations involved, hope to make the Unity Festival an annual event.
All of the members of ISO, LASO, ASA, LV Scholars, and MMX worked hard to make this possible despite facing challenges along the way. Since some international students don’t stay at Millikin for more than a year, there are always new international students who participate in ISO events.
“It’s always a challenge when it’s usually a new team,” Gahungu said.
This can make planning difficult when members have to reteach what the Unity Festival is to new members and explain what aspects need to be planned.
Despite this, the enjoyment of the event outweighs the challenges.
On Saturday, there will be booths showcasing all kinds of culture at Millikin, live music, and food trucks. There will also be a bungee run, gladiator, joust, cornhole, and a dunk tank.
“I did enjoy even having fun myself, going through all the inflatables, even dunk tanking some of my friends, so that is some of the stuff I actually really look forward to,” Gahungu said.
Unity Festival will start at 10 AM and end at 4 PM on Miller Quad, and there is no entry fee. Unity Festival is a good chance to destress before finals and to put all your worries behind you for a few hours.
Come to Miller Quad this Saturday from 10 to 4 for a day of fun presented by Millikin’s cultural student organizations.
