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Arshia Sista

Two men walk around the Great Park, showcasing their traditional Korean attire. Korean traditional clothing for males usually consisted of long robes with wide sleeves and a black hat with two flaps on the side.

The City of Irvine hosted its 20th Irvine Global Village Festival at the Great Park on Oct. 9 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m after a one year hiatus due to COVID-19. This year, the event was free of charge.

The festival celebrated various cultures through featured performances, art exhibits, food vendors, educational booths and interactive activities for children and adults. To accommodate COVID-19 precautions, UCI Health provided sanitizing stations and a free vaccination station.

Events coordinator and community services superintendent for the Irvine Global Village Festival Wendy Brown and her team of 115 began planning for the festival last year, meeting monthly to discuss the logistics of the event. Her team was separated into subcommittees, such as the entertainment, restaurant and cultural exhibit committees.

“Irvine is one of the safest cities in the nation, and it’s a master-planned community,” Brown said. “But part of that is to educate understanding of one another, acceptance of one another, celebrations of one another in our differences. And so this is just a way for the city to focus on that and highlight that.”

Among the many performers at the festival was senior Havanna Eleyadath, who performed a blend of a South Indian dance, Bharatanatyam, and North Indian dance, Kuchipudi.

“My favorite part of performing was seeing people’s reactions to my dance routine, and I loved how surprised they were seeing this other side of me,” Eleyadath said. “Irvine is a melting pot of cultures. Without diversity, we wouldn’t have the same Irvine as we have right now.”

More than 600 volunteers helped to organize and facilitate the large event.

“As a volunteer, I get pretty shy, but as far as gaining experience, I get to speak to new people,” junior Katherine Martinez said. “I liked helping with the carousel because I got to listen to kids’ music and have fun with them, too.”

According to Brown, seeing the pride of the people who have worked over the past year to plan it, the smiling faces of attendees and the vast diversity of cultures shown through music and food is the most spectacular part of the festival.

“You can walk around and through sight, sound, smell, taste you feel like you’re getting a taste of the world,” Brown said, “and that’s really special to come from one city.”