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International Festival of Cultures is MVA’s new annual signature event
September eyed for Festival of Cultures
The Marianas Visitors Authority will be launching its newest annual signature event this September—the International Festival of Cultures.
According to organizing committee chair Ryan Calvo, the event would showcase the international cultures in the CNMI, with emphasis on Micronesian culture.
MVA executive director Perry Tenorio said that, just like with the Taste of the Marianas, the Festival of Cultures will take place every Saturday in September.
The proposed venue for the event will be at the Paseo de Marianas in Garapan.
Performances will be held from 7pm to 11pm, while food vendors will open at 5pm and end at 11pm.
“This will give extra time for tourists to come out and see the performances,” Calvo said.
He said their vision for the festival is to let everybody see the varied cultures that make up the Commonwealth.
Committee member Tetsuya Matsunaga recommended that at least eight associations should join to present their culture.
A representative for one of the committee members under Ed Arriola recommended separate tents for each culture, while the performances on stage could be mixed.
Calvo said they will be using 10-by-40 tents to represent each culture.
“Each association like Japan, Korea, Carolinian, Yap, etc., will have their own booth, but the main stage will be for the performers where they will perform their traditional performances,” Calvo said.
According to Calvo, they are now accepting any organization that wants to join.
“Next week we will have a meeting and if we can get all those people to come in, then we will decide on the deadline for the registration for the event, because we don’t want to continue to delay the deadline,” he added.
