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Festival of Cultures pulls through despite bad weather
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Posted on Sep 11 2017
Despite the harsh winds and pouring rain, the International Festival of Cultures pushed through to showcase the many different cultures that have taken root on Saipan.
Last Saturday was the opening night of the annual International Festival of Culture in the Northern Mariana Islands.
The festival was originally set for the first Saturday of September, Sept. 2, but was postponed because of the threatening weather conditions.
Last Saturday, the alarming weather condition did not lead to another postponement. Instead, the Marianas Visitors Authority decided to continue with the festivities with a few alterations.
According to MVA Community Projects manager Martin Duenas, a Parade of Cultures was set to kick off the festivities but it was decided to push the parade back to the end of the September.
Despite this, the festival still took place at the Garapan Fishing Base and still managed to draw a sizeable crowd.
The festival focused on performances on its opening night. Each country showcased its unique cultural dances.
The Chamorro community, the Chinese community, the Korean community, the Rafaluwasch community, and the Filipino community performed unique cultural dances.
Duenas was actually pleased with the outcome and how many of the groups came out despite the bad weather.
“Despite the rain, majority of the ethnic groups came and they are having fun right now,” said Duenas.
The weather definitely did not put a strain on the festivities. Although many left the festivities drenched, they were happy to see all the different cultures that worked hard to bring a little piece of their traditions to the festival.
A group of young people came out to see what was going on at the Garapan Fishing Base.
According to Jayson Sablan, he was curious about the tents and the music and decided to drag his friends to check it out.
According to Sablan, he really enjoyed the event. “It was nice to see all the different cultures on the island together in one place,” said Sablan.
One of Sablan’s friends, Jon, was just as enthusiastic. He said he had never seen anything like it and felt that it was great that the festival incorporated all the cultures on the island.
