Second Cultural Food Fest Draws Crowd to Pavilion

Photo by Pauline Park

A mass of students came out to the College Programming Board’s second annual Cultural Food Fest on Friday night. The line for the buffet stretched across the Pavilion. Many students came for the food but stayed for the games and the Brazilian Percussion Ensemble.

Sean Farrell, a junior, said, “I’m studying abroad next semester and travelling around Europe afterward, so this was cool to get a taste of some of the cultures I’ll be visiting.”

A buffet table offered cannolis from Italy, chips and guacamole from Mexico, Greek salad, noodles from Thailand, chicken and rice from India and sticky rice with chicken from China.

 “It was a great way to immerse yourself in the culture through food,” said Marithe Adiong, a freshman.

The event offered cultural activities like Zen garden making, where students could paint plates and add colorful sand and stones.

“I did not expect to enjoy the Zen garden so much, but it was really cool,” said Julia Montella, a junior.

Students also had a chance to test their language skills with the “Hello Game,” where they tried to match foreign language greetings with the countries they come from.

The Brazilian Percussion Ensemble performed throughout the night and, after a few songs, everyone was invited to grab an instrument and join in.

“I’d love to share the rhythm with you guys,” said band director Amarildo Costa.

 About a dozen students stepped up and joined the group; many of them were first time drummers.

“Just breathe, let the rhythm in,” Costa told the new participants before diving into some samba reggae.

“It was really a different experience, because I’ve never done that before. It was cool to feel like you’re in the music and interact with the people around you like that,” said Michael Pacheco, a junior.

This year was the second time CPB put on a cultural food event, but, according to Chris Cortez, this year’s was the biggest yet.

“Last year’s Cultural Food Fest went pretty well and we wanted it to be even bigger this year and the turn out so far is great. We also really wanted the Brazilian Percussion Ensemble to be a part of the event this year,” said junior Cortez, a member of CPB. 

hreasone@ramapo.edu